The Conspiracy
by SharadaGirl
Summary: Tony never expected to think he was crazy. That was before a dead woman drenched in blood showed up at his apartment, standing in his doorway, demanding to be hidden.
1. Dead Woman Walking

_Author's Note_: First NCIS Fanfiction! This idea bugged me for a while and demanded to be written… Spoilers for Season Six and Judgment Day.

I do not own NCIS. I do not own Comedy Central. I've dreamed about owning NCIS, but dreams are so illusive....

--

It started off as every other Friday at NCIS for Tony; pick on McGee, get head slapped, pick on and flirt with Ziva, receive Gibbs glare, go find dead guy, movie quote, movie quote, a 'Shut the hell up' order from Gibbs, go down to Abby's lab, movie quote, see Ducky, movie quote, head slap, discover new information that reveals the true bad guy just before something big happens, followed by a gigantic gunfight where the bad guy dies, go get drinks with Abby and Jimmy and complain about their love lives. On occasion the company would vary, adding in Ziva and McGee, and once in a blue moon Gibbs and Ducky, and the topics would change, but that was what he got that day. Tony didn't mind, really. Jimmy was a good friend, no matter how often Tony denied it, and nothing could ever get boring around Abs. All in all, it was what he expected for the day.

He didn't expect anything out of the ordinary to happen. He didn't expect to come to the conclusion that he was crazy.

But that's what happened, anyway.

It was twelve thirty in the morning when Tony stumbled into his mess of an apartment after taking a cab from the bar. The whole way home, he could not help but feel he was being watched. He mentioned it to the cabby, who replied with, "Well, you're pretty damn drunk, so don't blame me if I don't believe you." It lead to some strange argument-slash-conversation that somehow ended up about Tony's shoes, and almost the entire conversation had already been forgotten. Still, Tony could not ease his paranoia. He locked the door with the deadbolt and tried to shrug it off. He flopped onto the couch and turned on the television, putting on some late night comic from Comedy Central. Soon he fell into a light sleep, which was disrupted seventeen minutes later when someone pounded on his door.

"'M comin!" Tony groaned as he sluggishly made his way to the door. He rubbed his eyes, undid the deadbolt, and turned the door knob. Standing on his door step was the last person he could imagine.

Jenny Sheppard, covered in blood, looked Tony in the eye. She looked different from when she was his boss; She looked older, tired. She had a new scar running down her face, and her red hair was dyed brown. Tony thought he was going to faint.

"You... You're dead," He stated, dumbfounded. She simply brushed past him and into his apartment.

"No, I'm not, I'm very much alive." She spat as she turned around to look at Tony. "And I'd like to keep it that way." Tony continued to stare at her, positive that the alcohol had screwed up his brain. He had seen her corpse, felt her lifeless wrist as he checked for a pulse. Hell, he even put her in the body bag!

"You're dead," He said again. She ignored him.

"Tony, I need you to hide me." Jenny commanded. He was not sure if it was from shock, fatigue, alcohol, or a combination of the three, but that was when Tony fainted.

--

At seven thirty in the morning, Tiny heard a faint buzzing noise. He simply grunted and pulled a pillow over his head. When the noise got louder, he sighed and opened his eyes. He realized he was on his couch, with a blanket pulled over him. Strange, he didn't get a blanket... He glanced at his television, the source of the noise. He flipped it off, and suddenly his head was filled with images of Jenny.

Standing in his door. With brown hair. Bloody. Asking to be hidden.

"You were dreamin', DiNozzo..." He muttered to himself, sitting up. "Just a dream... From too many drinks last night..." He tacked the last part on as his head started to pound. He let the pain show in his face, confident no one would see it as he surveyed his apartment. To his surprise, the woman who haunted his dreams that night was sitting in a chair in his 'kitchen.'

"Do you always talk to yourself, Tony?" She asked. He let out a yelp and jumped off the couch.

"You're dead!" He replied. Jenny rolled her eyes; it was all she had heard him say since she came.

"You know, Tony, you could say something else... And I'm not dead."

"Yes, you are!" He almost yelled. "We found your corpse! You didn't have a pulse! That's sort of hard to fake, Jenny!" She smiled.

"With the right drugs it's not." She stated simply. Tony shook his head.

"You are not here. You're dead. I'm hallucinating..." He muttered, and had an unpleasant epiphany. "Crap. I've gone crazy..."

"Or," She started. "I faked my death, went underground, and need you to hide me." She offered. Tony shook his head 'no.' Jenny sighed, wondering just how long it would take her to convince Tony it was her.

"Or maybe, I'm just thinking that so I don't realize I'm nuts!" He responded. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I never thought I'd go insane... Well, not 'I see dead people' insane. Maybe cuckoo like Harvey Dent in Batman: The Dark Knight, if Ziva, McGee, Abby, Gibbs, Ducky and Jimmy all got blown up or something, but definitely not this sort of crazy!" Jenny rolled her eyes, as Tony's brain went from 'panic' mode to 'movie reference' mode seamlessly.

"You're not even going to consider that I'm real, are you?" She asked. Once again, Tony shook his head 'no.'

"If you were real, you'd go to Gibbs or Ducky or Ziva or someone- _anyone_- but me..." Tony sighed, and looked at her sadly. "It'd make no sense for you to hide behind the man who let you die..." Tony slunk down onto the sofa. Jenny got up and walked over to him, seeing how suddenly depressed he got. She could barely see his eyes, but could see them glazed over, and in mental pain.

Tony was reliving when he and Ziva found Jenny at the restaurant. The hollow look on the director's face never left him, and he blamed himself every time he thought about her. He learned to think about her less and less, but it still hurt. The pain of blaming himself was similar to the pain of Jeanne leaving, although Tony was not in love with Jenny. He glanced to his side, seeing the woman whose face haunted his for so long look back at him in concern.

"I'm not going to imagine you away, am I?" He asked, feebly. Jenny slightly shook her head 'no.' Tony sighed, leaned back, and did his best to make a joke, like always. He refused to let people see him vulnerable, even from a young age. "So I'm crazy. Big deal. Crazy people have more fun." He forced a smile. Jenny was getting irritated.

"You're not crazy, DiNozzo. I faked my death, and now I have to hide from someone else who wants me dead. Gibbs' house is probably bugged by now, seeing that he doesn't have a single lock in his house, Ducky knows I'm alive but they would expect me to g to him, and Ziva is a lot more paranoid of the paranormal. She'd shoot me on sight if she's as stubborn as you about me being dead," Jenny explained. "Do you believe you're not crazy yet, Tony?" The man feigned a thoughtful look.

"Nope."

"Damn you," She cursed at him. Tony just smiled at her in return. "I'm going to stay here until no ones' after me. Don't bring home company without calling ahead so I can hide," Jenny demanded. Tony sighed.

"So I won't see you outta here?" He asked, "And not around people?" Jenny nodded. "Okay; so my mind won't let me see dead people out of my apartment." He stated as he got up and walked into the kitchen. Jenny still sat on his sofa, and yelled back at him.

"You're not crazy!" He took no notice of her as he rummaged around his kitchen area, and finally withdrew a small plastic container with a lid out of a backup NCIS investigation kit- he had several floating around his apartment. Taking the container, he headed towards the bathroom. Jenny couldn't help but follow him out of curiosity. She stood in the doorway as he unzipped his pants.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked, as Tony set the container on the toilet seat.

"Urine sample. See if someone put something in one of my drinks or something," He said as he filled up the small cup. Jenny was disgusted. "Hallucinogens or something. Gonna tell Abby... I dunno... Probably the truth, but I'm sure she'd run it under someone else's name. Vance doesn't like me- if there were drugs in my piss, he'd fire me so fast my head would spin." Tony smiled, put the lid on the container and washed his hands.

"Do you ever close doors?" Jenny asked, still disgusted that he peed in a cup in front of her.

"It's not like you're real- Besides, you watched. That says a lot more about you than me," Tony retorted.

"I thought you thought you were imagining me," She smirked, thinking he was finally accepting she was alive.

"I am." He said simply. "Get out. I need to shower, unless you wanna watch that, too." He asked, suggestively. She walked away, even more disgusted, as he expected. Just as well- she was the last woman he would want to be in any sort of romantic relationship with. Tony stripped naked and got into the shower. He noticed traces of blood around the drain. He assumed Jenny must have taken a shower, and he was imagining the blood. He sighed and let the water run over him, washing away the bar stench lingering from the night before.

"Am I really crazy?" He asked himself quietly. Deep down, he doubted it. However, he was positive Jenny was dead, and refused the even consider the woman would fake her death when he was supposed to protect her. Tony admitted that she had used him plenty of times, with nothing for him to show other than what had to be a permanently broken heart, another obscenely close brush with death, and a deep hatred of a certain CIA agent...

To Tony, believing he had gone crazy was much less painful than believing she was still alive.

--

_Author's Note_: Sort of angsty, and a little out of character, I fear. And I don't think Tony would insist he's crazy in the show, but I took the artistic license I needed here.


	2. A PinkiePromise

_Author's Note_: This is not going to be a Tony/OC fic. Just wanted to say that before the chapter started. And I didn't base Caplin off of anyone- She's just there for comic relief... Sort of. As for any other pairing... Not sure and not telling.

I don't own NCIS, Snapple, or anything else mentioned.

--

After Tony finished showering, he quickly dressed (He always kept some clean clothes on the floor of his bathroom) and exited the steam-filled room. Jenny was sitting lazily on the couch, flipping through the advanced copy of the new _Deep Six _novel Tony had 'borrowed' from McGee's desk. She simply glanced up at him as he tried his best to ignore her as he opened the door to the apartment. He froze in the doorframe as his looked down at the ground- There was blood drops dried onto the dirty floor. He cursed himself silently as he noticed the door knob and where someone had knocked also sported blood. Tony raced back into his apartment, rummaging around until he found a mostly clean bucket, a somewhat intact sponge, and half a bottle of dish soap. He poured a sixth of the soap into the bucket and filled it halfway with water, and lugged it out to in front of his apartment. As he was closing the door, Jenny spoke.

"Believe me yet?" She asked, certain Tony's denial would finally end from this.

"No." Tony bit and slammed the door shut, and began to clean. He started with the stain of the door, and effectively had it gone within eight minutes. He wiped down the door knob several times, wiping away the bloody handprint and any fingerprints left on it. Finally, he started scrubbing at the floor angrily. About half an hour and two of the five drops later, the door of the apartment next to him opened, and a blond woman stepped out, holding a bottle of Snapple.

"Cleaning up a crime scene, DiNozzo? Who'dja kill today?" She jibed. Tony sighed angrily.

"Not in the mood, Caplin. Go give some poor sucker a lap dance or something," He hissed at his neighbor. He didn't have to look at her to know she was giving him a record-breaking glare.

"Why were you yelling earlier?" She demanded. Tony gave her nothing- He knew she could hear the sounds, but not the words. "Oh, I know- 'Interrogating' someone- That explains the cut on your face," She laughed mirthlessly as Tony ran a hand over his face, and felt an indentation on his cheek that burned when he touched it- He must have gotten it when he fainted the night before. "Poor guy's probably an innocent dead man."

"There's no dead guy in my apartment," Tony said in a joking matter, truthfully. Even though he believed Jenny was dead, she wasn't a guy. "You're up early," He started. Caplin knew she wouldn't like where it was going. "I didn't know the strip clubs opened this early- Or are you getting tested for syphilis?" Yup. Caplin knew it.

"You're so original with the stripper jokes, DiNozzo." She spat sarcastically. "I can't believe someone would blow up your car. Or frame you of murder. Three times."

"At least my uncle never violated me." He smiled at Caplin, and received a cup of iced tea to the face. He wiped it away to watch her storm down the hallway, and was glad he had the last apartment in the hallway- He hated to have one next door neighbor, he would never survive two.

Rose Caplin actually used to date Tony- for about three weeks. It ended very quickly when he learned that she, although she was a waitress as she said she was, moonlighted as a stripper. He remembers the look of horror on her face when they ran into each other at her job every time they fight. It was a very nasty break up- the words 'whore,' 'bastard,' and 'STD' popping up a lot. Several times since then Tony left his apartment to find the door was egged or a bag of flaming dog crap on his 'welcome' mat. He couldn't really bring up charges without feeling hypocritical- Every time he was forced to go back to Long Island he himself left a flaming bag of dog crap on his dad's front stoop. He was actually very proud of himself that he had never been caught.

Tony returned to his task at hand- Clean up the possibly imaginary blood. About an hour later, he was finally satisfied, and re-entered the apartment. Jenny was still on the couch, now engrossed in McGee's new book. She barely looked up at him when he dumped out the water and reached for some luminal to make sure it was all gone. He walked out the apartment, and sprayed the blood-detector where the splatter was. Gone. He smiled to himself, before he re-entered the apartment for a third time. Finally, Jenny gave him her attention.

"McGee made 'Agent Tommy,'" She paused before reading out loud, _"'Greatly mourn the loss of the Director, fully blaming himself for the untimely death of Jamie Herder. He drank heavily when alone, avoided protection duty when possible, and even got a little teary eyed whenever a red haired woman walked by when he was intoxicated.'"_ Jenny looked at Tony. "Is this true?" She asked, her eyes somewhat sad. Tony decided to lie.

"Mostly, no. McGeek's a drama queen- I needed him to pick me up from a bar _once_ and now he thinks I'm an alcoholic," Tony rolled his eyes. He left out how he was so smashed that he started crying and blamed himself for Jenny's death after a red headed woman started flirting with him, after Tony almost begged Gibbs to let him off protection detail. "I'm going to shoot him for putting that in his damn book." Jenny smirked.

"There's also an awkward sex scene between 'Agent Tommy' and 'Officer Lisa'- What did I miss?" She raised her eyebrows. Tony's face fell.

"_Awkward_? How _awkward_?" He demanded, snatching the book from Jenny's hands. She laughed as he looked like he was going to rip the book in half. "I'll kill him!" Tony seethed. Jenny snickered as he calmed down and remembered that he needed to get his urine sample to Abby. For the last time that morning, he grabbed his bag and left the apartment. He searched the parking lot for a minute before remembering that he needed a cab to take him home the night before, meaning his car and keys were still at the bar near work. After taking a cab back to the bar, he found the bar tender from the night before. Tony didn't need to say a word, and the man handed Tony over the keys to his car. It surprised Tony, but he said nothing. He drove to NCIS, and went directly to the Caf-Pow machine, then Abby's lab.

Loud random noise that barely counted as music blared as he called out her name. "ABBY!" The Goth spun around and looked at him in surprise.

"Tony! She yelled back. "It's your day off!" Her eyes lit up as he held a Caf-Pow in one hand and a urine sample in the other. "Oooh! Gimme!" Only Abby would say that about pee...

"Abby, before I give you these," Tony held them up and shook them, greatful he sealed the urine sample tightly, "I gotta talk to you about something super important- and ultra secret!" Her eyes lit up even more.

"Tell me tell me tell me!" Abby demanded. Tony smiled briefly, before looking over his shoulder, expecting Gibbs to appear. Then he glanced at the security camera, and the little monitor talkie thing that linked to the computer and autopsy. Feeling paranoid, he shook his head and put down the Caf-Pow and urine Sample.

"Not here." He said, then grabbed her arm and pulled her into the elevator. The doors had barely closed before he switched the emergency stop on, as Gibbs had done countless times to almost everyone who Tony knew at NCIS. Tony was quiet as he tried to think of what to say. Abby looked at her friend in concern.

"Tony?" She asked when he still didn't speak. He turned to look at her, with the most serious face Abby had ever seen Tony wear.

"You cannot tell anyone what I'm going to tell you, Abby. Especially Vance or... Gibbs." Tony stated. Abby's eyes grew wide in surprise.

"Not even Gibbs?"

"Gibbs is to know nothing- You can't tell him, sign it to him, e-mail it to him, nothing. Same for Vance." Tony stuck his right pinkie out. "Pinkie promise me." Abby pulled down on her pig tails, unsure. Tony might really need help, but not tell Gibbs? He didn't even leave her an obvious loop hole! Abby sighed and gripped Tony's pinkie with her own.

"Pinkie promise. Now tell me!" She demanded, worrying he was going to ask her to falsify forensic evidence or help him hide a body- A really important person's body, Vance's maybe, if Tony didn't include him on the "Do not tell" list. She would totally help Tony hide a body, but she knew she'd end up telling Gibbs, who would probably save them somehow.

"The urine sample I've got for you- It's not for a case," Tony started. "I... I was wondering if you could run it off the books or something..." He Looked away from her.

"Why?" Abby demanded. Tony sighed.

"This morning, I..." What should he tell her? He saw their dead boss? That she moved in with him? He decided to try and be vague. "I saw something hinky. Very hinky. Impossible hinky. I want to know if someone put something weird in my drink, or if I went crazy." Abby threw her arms around Tony into a bone crushing hug that he was accustomed to.

"What type of hinky?" Abby half asked, half demanded from her friend.

"A I'm not telling hinky." Tony replied

"Tony, you are going to te-"

"Jenny." He cut her off. He could feel her about to explode with questions, so he continued. "I saw Jenny. She stormed my apartment, demanding to be hidden. She won't leave." Abby tightened her hug.

"Is she.. Here?" Abby asked, nervously.

"No," Tony smiled to himself as Abby launched herself into a load of questions.

"Did anything you drank taste off? Are you being haunted? Dif she say anything about me? About Gibbs? Can you ask her if she slept with Gibbs so our longstanding bet against McGee and Jimmy on that issue can finally end? Do you wanna talk to a priest? Can I come over? Please, Tony?" Tony laughed, and flipped the switch, turning on the elevator. Abby shut up, glared at him, and punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" Tony exclaimed, rubbing his arm. "What was that for?"

"You didn't let me finish!" She retorted, then laughed. They went back into her lab, and started the urine sample for a 'John Doe.'

--

_Author's Note_: McGee's book is going to be a sub plot. Because _Deep Six_ is too easy to make fun of. Most of this was written at two in the morning, by the way. Sorry if it sucks.


	3. Care Free?

_Author's Note_: New chapter. I think Abby's a little OOC in some parts.

Don't own NCIS.

--

"So," Abby started, smirking at Tony. She just finished putting the urine sample into the machine, and walked over to where he was sitting. "What do you think John Doe got?" She asked, trying to stifle laughter. Tony smirked back, remembering the beer fest the two of them and Jimmy had the night before. It started off as a shots competition... And he honestly couldn't remember how it ended. Vaguely, an image of Jimmy crying over his fallen girlfriend, Agent Lee, and Abby bitching about McGee's 'new slut of a girlfriend' surfaced in his head. He also remembered whining about not getting any since Jeanne and frustrations with Ziva, but he would deny it.

"Well, the night before I got the sample," Tony started, unwilling to admit near cameras it was his sample, "He got pretty damn drunk."

"Fall of the barstool drunk?" Abby laughed at him. Tony glared.

"Yeah..." He sighed, and leaned back in the chair, his head starting to hurt again from the night before's alcohol. "He may have a small problem with drinking..." Abby hugged him sympathetically.

"Poor John Doe," She said. "I hope he feels better... Happier..." Tony smiled. Abby was the sister he never had and always wanted. Hell, he didn't even see most of his actual family as family anymore- NCIS was his family. It killed him inside when Vance sent him away, reminding him of when his father sent him to boarding school. It made him feel unwanted. And when Jenny supposedly died- he couldn't help but remember his mother's death, even though Jenny had screwed up his life.

"Don't know what else will be in his piss," Tony finally said, his tone light. "Thinks someone drugged him up. Hallucinogens." Abby narrowed her eyes.

"Do you know how many there are?" She asked. Tony shrugged his shoulders.

"A lot?" He guessed. Abby nodded.

"Some of them deadly after in the blood for six hours," She exploded, scared for her friend. Tony flinched from the loudness. "How could- John Doe- Be so careless about what he drinks?!"

"Abby, he's still alive. It's been way more than six hours..." He said, looking at his watch. "Well, not that many more hours... More like eight." Abby punched his shoulder, the same spot she hit him earlier. "-But I'll pass on the message to John Doe to be more careful."

"Good." She stated, before smiling. "Changing the subject..." She looked at Tony. "What's your new... Room mate like?" She asked, curiously. Tony laughed.

"Well, Abs, she's annoying and bossy," He stated. Abby nodded. "She looks pretty much how she used to look, but she dyed her hair brown." Abby's eyes widened in surprise and curiosity.

"Oooh... Is that possible?" She asked. Tony looked at her like she was crazy. "I mean, for someone... Like her." _'Oh, right.'_ Tony thought. _'Ghosts don't use hair dye... Even though it's all in my head...'_

"I think so..." Tony laughed, sarcastically. "She also got a scar on her face. Sort of bad ass, if she wasn't also older and frailer looking." Abby seemed surprised. Tony knew why- The thought of Jenny being frail made him cringe. It just didn't sit well with him. She ordered around Gibbs half the time! She was tough, and she didn't give up. Tony had the misfortune to experience her persistence first hand.

For the next few hours, Abby did her work while Tony sat around, and they talked about random things. On occasion, agents would come in, see Tony, and beg her to run their evidence before Gibbs' for once. Tony laughed each time that happened, while Abby took advantage of it. By noon, a little less than four hours after Tony arrived, she raked in fifty dollars and three Caf-Pows in bribes. After Abby started running a few fingerprints through AFIS, Tony's stomach rumbled loudly.

"Hey, Abby, I'm gonna go and get some Chinese, what do you want?" Tony asked, getting up.

"Usual!" She called out as she looked through a microscope. Tony left, and returned to NCIS about twenty minutes later with a bag full of Chinese food. On his way to Abby's lab, he ran into Jimmy Palmer in the elevator.

"Hey, Tony..." Jimmy said, meekly, head still pounding from the night before's binge drinking. "What're you doing here? Aren't you off today?" He asked, rubbing his head. Tony chuckled.

"Ah, Palmer," He threw one arm over Jimmy's shoulder, carrying his and Abby's lunch in the other, "Not used to as much drinking as last night, are we?" He asked, brightly. Jimmy shook his head. "Didn't think so." Jimmy sighed. "Something wrong, Jimmy?" Tony asked. The younger man hesitated.

"Not really. Just jealous," He said as the door opened, and the M.E.'s assistant walked out, leaving Tony in confusion "It must be nice to be care free, right?" He asked, as the door closed. Tony stared at the door, somewhat angry. Him? Carefree? Every time he heard the names 'CIA' and 'Kort,' he checked under his car for a bomb. Every time he got even the smallest fever or cough, someone, usually Gibbs or Ziva, held him at gunpoint demanding he go to a hospital. His job included being shot at on a daily basis. Oh, yeah, and he sort of had his dead boss at his apartment, reading McGee's newest book! Tony sighed. Jimmy didn't know any of that, and it certainly wasn't his fault. Tony did everything he could to appear carefree, and on rare occasions, he actually felt it. But not now. Never again, he assumed. Tony felt his frustrations boil up, and he punched the elevator door.

"Ow! God, dammit!" He cursed as he put down the Chinese food bag and rubbed his sore knuckles. The elevator door finally opened, and his picked up the Chinese food and stormed out. "Hey, Abby!" He yelled over the ear-drum bursting music as he re-entered the lab. "Got us lunch!" The Gothic woman, whose back was turned, jumped and spinned around.

"I got the results back, Tony!" She exclaimed. She seemed incredibly happy, Tony noted, as he placed the food on a clear spot on the table. "John Doe had no drugs in his urine! Well, other than some lingering alcohol, and in very minuscule amounts, and some aspirin, but he was not drugged!" She smiled. Tony felt his heart fall- So that meant he either went crazy, or Jenny was alive... No. She couldn't be alive. He was crazy.

"So that means that his hallucinations..."

"He either needs a therapist or a priest." Abby joked. "You know, for an exorcism." Tony's cell phone rang.

"DiNozzo." He said, not bothering to look at the Caller ID.

--

Something was wrong. Gibbs could tell- He could feel it in his gut. He heard Tony refer to it as 'Gibbs' super spidey-gut senses' once, before head slapping the man.

Tony- That was where his gut was directing him. Plenty of times before the younger man got himself knee-deep into trouble, he seemed to be a trouble magnet. Gibbs sighed, and continued to work on his boat for what felt like a life time- What number was it? Fourth or fifth? He never even sailed any of them. He ended up burning the second one- he made the mistake of naming it after his wife at the time. It became a reoccurring joke among the people he knew, "How do you get the boat out of the basement?"

Wouldn't they like to know?

Gibbs grunted and took a sip of his coffee. He wasn't feeling frustrated with anyone for asking about the boat- His gut just wouldn't quit, and he knew DiNozzo would end up doing something stupid or regretful-or both. Glancing at the timestamp on his television, he had the news on, it was a little after twelve hundred thirty. He couldn't take it anymore, he reached for his cell phone and pressed speed dial four- DiNozzo.

"DiNozzo." Tony answered after a single ring. Loud, insufferable noise blared in the background- Music from Abby's lab.

"What'cha doing at work, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, not bothering to greet the younger man.

"Boss!" Tony exclaimed into the phone. Gibbs could almost hear him look around. "How did you-"

"The music, DiNozzo." Gibbs smiled to himself. "You okay?" He asked, trying to sound nonchalant. It seemed to catch Tony off guard.

"Y-Yeah, Boss, why?" Tony stuttered. He was lying- Gibbs knew it.

--

_Author's Note_: It's a little shorter than I wanted, but oh well. And I had to bring in Gibbs's gut. Let me just say this- I love reviews, and I try to respond to all the ones I get.


	4. They make children look mature

_Author's Note_: Tada! This chapter seems a little off to me... Oh Well. I looked up what rat phobia is called on Google, and found 'Musophobia,' and I'm assuming it is right here. More random Caplin bitchyness, Gibbs and Ziva worrying over Tony, and Abby and Tony acting like immature children! (P.S., go read Sibling Rivalry if you like agents acting like immature children. Whoop for shameless plugging!) And more on McGee's book. Let me just say this- I am a Tiva fan. I'm positive that some is going to bleed into this fanfic, (actually, I think it already has a little) but this isn't about romance. However, in McGee's book, 'Tommy' and 'Lisa' are going at it like rabbits. Just making fun of how McGee writes them.

I don't own NCIS. I don't own Google. I technically own Caplin, though.

--

"Why?" Gibbs echoed his senior field agent, searching his head for anything other than '_My gut tells me you're about to screw yourself over, dammit._' Pausing, Gibbs smirked and pulled out the most un-Gibbs reason for calling. "Can't a boss call his employee to check up on him?" He asked. Gibbs could practically see the look of disbelief on DiNozzo's face.

"Yes, but not _you_, Boss." Tony stated flatly. Gibbs heard a short scuffle, some arguing, and DiNozzo yell 'Ow!' before a familiar cheery voice greeted him.

"Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed into the phone. The man winced and held the phone slightly farther away from his ear than he did before. "Gibbs! I found this totally awesome file encrypted in a computer Johnson paid me to run before any of your evidence!" Her bubblyness made Gibbs smile, then frown slightly.

"Abs, we don't have a case," Gibbs informed her. She sighed into the phone.

"_I know_, Gibbs. But because Tony was here, everyone assumed you were on a case! I got fifty bucks and three Caf-Pows to run other agents' evidence before yours!" Gibbs smiled again. Abby was an opportunist. Again, he heard scuffling.

"Abby! Gimme back my phone!" Tony's ticked voice came over faintly on the phone.

"But I wanna talk to Gibbs! Ow!" Abby exclaimed. Gibbs sighed- Sometimes, his employees, who he honestly thought of as family- Although hell would freeze over before he actually verbalized this to most of them- acted so childish.

"Head slap him, Abby." Gibbs commanded over the phone.

"Ow!"

"Bossman told me to!"

"Why?"

"You hit me!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

Gibbs shook his head and hung up without saying 'goodbye.' Sometimes, they made school children look mature. He grunted to himself. Although he talked to the man, he still had a gut feeling Tony was in trouble.

--

Abby heard the drawn out tone after Gibbs hung up, and Tony glared at her.

"You know I really didn't hit you, right?" He asked, as she tossed him the cell phone. She smiled bubbly at him.

"I know. I was right, though! Childish bickering made him hang up!" She walked to the counter and picked up a container of Chinese food. "Let's have lunch!"

--

Around fourteen hundred, Tony pulled into the parking lot outside his apartment building. He hung around Abby's lab most of the day, and watched as she received more bribes from his fellow agents. She even demanded that on his next day off, he come back and just sit around like he did today. Hell, she gave him a quarter of the 'funds'- Hush money. He chuckled as he made his way down his hallway, before frowning.

"Caplin, what the _hell_?" He asked as his neighbor sat expectantly in a folding chair, right in the middle of the narrow hallway, blocking him from his apartment.

"Toll now needed," She smirked immaturely. Tony rolled his eyes.

"What? Stripper money not payin' the bills?" He jibed as she glared.

"Don't make me sick my rat on you, Musophobe," She threatened. Tony returned her glare. "Actually, I named him after you." Tony rolled his eyes again, and attempted to get passed her. He ended up grabbing her arm and going passed, and she yelled. "Don't touch me DiNozzo!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping one of her neighbors would get the wrong impression and assume Tony to be a rapist, and possibly beat him up or call the police. It didn't happen- She'd used that one before. Tony growled to himself as he tried to open his door.

After struggling with the lock for a few minutes, he finally opened his door, with Jenny standing there. He closed the door behind him and walked past her.

"Don't use the deadbolt, Jenny," he told the woman. She raised her eyebrows.

"So you finally believe-"

"Not yet." he cut her off before opening the refrigerator, and grabbed the milk. He opened it and sniffed the milk inside, before making a face and tossing it in the garbage. Jenny made a face.

"Ew," She shook her head. "So what did Abby say? What did you tell her?" She asked as Tony rummaged around his 'kitchen,' until he finally found a semi-clean cup. He put it under the running faucet.

"She told me to get a priest for an exorcism. No drugs." He chugged the water and placed the cup on top of a mountain of dirty dishes. "I told her the truth; A dead lady won't leave me alone." Jenny looked at him, mouth-gaping.

"You... Told her?!" She demanded. Tony waved his hand at her.

"Don't get your panties in a twist; it was in the elevator after I turned it off. She ran my piss as a 'John Doe.' Besides, I still sorta think you're my imagination." He lied. He honestly didn't believe it. He wished he could, though. Jenny sighed and threw her hands up in exasperation.

"You're as stubborn as _Gibbs_," She declared and walked out of the room. Tony smirked, then looked around his apartment for something to do before his eyes landed on the advanced _Deep Six _novel he took off McGee's desk when he wasn't looking. Plopping down on the couch, he picked up the book and started reading it.

"...Ziva's gonna kill him," He laughed as he read about 'Mossad officer Lisa' falling asleep in the squad room and having a sex dream about 'Agent Tommy' within the first chapter. As he read on, the two 'characters' developed a romantic relationship, yet attempted to hide if from their boss, 'Agent Tibbs.' While reading a part about Pinny Jalmer crying over his dead girlfriend, Tony couldn't help but wonder if he and Ziva really seemed to be together. About one third of McGeek's book revolved around the two of them so far. He pushed it out of his head and continued reading.

--

"Tony?" A motherly voice asked. The sleeping man grunted and ignored her. "Tony." Again, he ignored her. "DiNozzo!" She yelled.

This time, he actually responded. Tony was yanked out of sleep and was face-to-face with Jenny. He yelped and fell off his couch. Again. He cursed and picked himself, and the book, off the floor. Rubbing his eyes, he assumed he fell asleep while reading _Deep Six_. Tony yawned.

"What time is it?" He asked, now fully awake. Jenny shoved a small piece of paper into his hands.

"It is zero six hundred. I need you to go somewhere for me," She started.

--

"Where is Tony?" Ziva asked McGee. It was zero eight thirty, and neither had seen or heard from Tony since they left Friday. It was now Sunday. McGee shrugged and ransacked his desk looking for his advanced copy of his new book.

"Dunno," He said emotionlessly, still looking for the book. Ziva narrowed her eyes at him.

"You are not the least bit curious?" She asked. McGee stopped and looked at her.

"Tony's a big boy, Ziva. He can take care of himself most of the time," He smirked. "Are you jealous he's with another woman?" He asked, remembering a part in his book when 'Officer Lisa' became paranoid when 'Agent Tommy' went missing for a short while. Wait- Tony, book... "Oh crap." McGee exclaimed, jumped up, and started looking for his book in Tony's desk. Ziva looked at him curiously.

"McGee, what are you doing?" Ziva questioned.

"I got one advanced copy of my new book. It's missing," He stated gravely. "It comes out next month. If Tony has it, it's probably all over the internet by now." He cursed out loud when he couldn't find it.

"Watch your language, McGee," Gibbs said, striding into the bull pen. "Your fans might hear you. Where's DiNozzo?" He asked, glancing around. His gut hadn't stopped bugging him.

"Not here," Ziva stated, her mind wandering back to when Tony's car blew up. She shuddered slightly at the memory. "I called him; he did not pick up..." Gibbs growled slightly.

"Grab your gear," He commanded to his two present employees as he walked into the elevator. Ziva and McGee scurried in behind him.

"Do we have a case, Boss?" McGee asked. Gibbs shook his head and sipped his coffee.

"Nope, we're finding DiNozzo."

--

_Author's Note:_ Next chapter is gonna be a little cracky. I look forward to writing it. Feel free to leave any theories!


	5. Jennifer Reede's perscription

_Author's Note_: I have a really bad feeling about the next episode of NCIS. I'm sure it's nothing... Knock on Wood.

Don't own: NCIS, Sharpies, The Matrix, Rite-Aide, or anything else mentioned that has been copy righted. Do own: Caplin, the super bitch Stripper, and Ted, the slightly crazy conspiracy theorist.

--

"Alright, Teddy-Boy," Rose Caplin glanced at the man. He was at least six foot tall, and in his mid thirties. He smirked a little. "This is how you egg a Fed's door," She instructed as she picked up a large white egg from the container. "You have to wear gloves, by the way. That bastard DiNozzo is always talking about how his friend is a world-class forensic scientist, and can get a print off of anything." Ted held up his hands, both covered in black gloves, matching Caplin's. "Good boy," She smirked and wound her arm up like a pitcher. "Next, you gotta prepare to throw the egg. You need to hold it tight enough it won't slip from your hands, but not hard enough to crack it in you hands," She closed one eye as if aiming before throwing the egg, hitting the middle of the door.

"Beautiful," Ted laughed before picking up an egg from the carton. "But you act as if I've never egged a house before," He threw the egg, hitting the peep hole. Ted was new to the apartment building. He just moved into the apartment across from Caplin, diagonal from DiNozzo. Ted... Had a few screws loose. He believed everything was a conspiracy, and no one in the government was to be trusted. "So, Cap, why do I feel I've seen you before I moved here?" He asked lightly, as if they were drinking coffee instead of egging a federal agent's front door.

"Been to any bachelor parties recently?" She asked, tossing more eggs at the door. She didn't even look at him, and he didn't look at her.

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason."

They egged DiNozzo's door for about another ten minutes with a light conversation going before Gibbs, Ziva, and McGee arrived.

"What the hell?" Gibbs asked as he saw two adults egging his agent's door while talking about a television show. They whipped around to see them. Caplin noted the hats and jackets- NCIS. Same as DiNozzo. She dropped the egg in her hand and threw her hands into the air.

"He did it!" She pointed to Ted with one hand and DiNozzo's door with the other. "I was unwilling to egg DiNozzo's door... Please don't arrest me," She begged. Ted scoffed.

"You just knocked on my door and asked if I wanted to egg the Fed's door!" He exclaimed. McGee and Ziva exchanged glances.

"You must be Rose Caplin..." Ziva said to the woman. Caplin nodded. "Tony's... Talk about you," She smiled shrewdly. Caplin rolled her eyes, knowing he probably called her the neighbor from hell. Ziva brushed past Tony's neighbors, knocked twice, and when there was no answer she started to pick the lock. Ted glanced around nervously.

"What's going on?" He asked, stepping away from the Feds. Gibbs glared at him.

"Agent DiNozzo is missing," He spat. McGee moved closer to the door and called out Tony's name questioningly. Caplin scrunched up her nose.

"His car wasn't in the parking lot when I left earlier to get... Groceries..." She stated. "And when he's in there, he deadbolts the door..." She looked at Gibbs. "Some lady answered last night for the pizza delivery man. Maybe he's just in a sex coma." Gibbs stared at the strange woman. McGee snorted and tried to hide his laughter, and Ziva glared at him. Ted slipped into his apartment when Ziva finished picking the lock.

"Tony has a fairly good lock," She said as she pushed open the door to reveal the filthy apartment, appearing barren of human life. "But not good enough."

--

Tony drove down the highway for what felt like forever. He turned on the radio to keep him from going crazy, or crazier. He was going to the doctor- A doctor- for a woman he still tried to convince himself was dead. She had given him a prescription for experimental medicine that was slowing down her disease. Did he mention that the doctor's office where he was supposed to get it was two states away?! And why did she say to say he was her nephew? He cursed Jenny under his breath and finally arrived at the damn doctor's office.

Tony walked into the waiting room, and looked around uncomfortably. Everyone looked so sick, so helpless, except one man. He was dressed all in black with large dark sunglasses. Very Matrix-like, but without any weapons. He was sitting next to a frail looking man, whispering to each other. Tony looked at the prescription. The name for person receiving it was "Jennifer Reede." Tony shook his head._ 'Nice fake name, Jenny.'_

After sitting in silence for twenty minutes, the receptionist called for Jennifer Reede. Tony got up and walked over to her.

"Uh, hi." He started nervously. "I'm Jenny's... Nephew... She couldn't come this morning," He lied. The woman nodded, let him in, and sent him to the last door on the right. There was a doctor waiting in the room.

"You're not Ms. Reede," The doctor stated, glancing at Tony. He chuckled.

"Aunt Jenny couldn't come today, she sent me to pick up her prescription." He handed the doctor the paper. She glanced at him, then a chart with Jennifer Reede's name at the top. She reached into a bag and pulled out some pills, and handed them to Tony.

"You know, I can get most of my prescriptions at a Pharmacy," Tony started. He mentally shuddered as he remembered the little bottle of pills Brad always made him carry around, in case the plague started to show up. "Why does Aunt Jenny have to get it from a doctor directly?" The woman doctor looked at Tony.

"These drugs are highly effective, yet highly experimental, as a treatment for a terminal cancer. It can add a few years onto the life expectancy of the patient taking it, but it doesn't cure the disease. It is usually misconcepted that it cures the disease. Many people with the disease are desperate to get their hands on it, and will rob or kill for it. So you see, we can't just sell it at Rite-Aid. The patient taking it or a close family member has to get it directly from the doctor." She smiled. Tony frowned.

"Close family?" He asked, peering further down on the chart. Under 'next of kin' was one name. Tony DiNardo. He shuddered at the memories that name brought back. The doctor nodded.

"Yes. Ms. Reede said you were the only family she had left, Professor DiNardo." Tony thanked the doctor and bolted out of the office. He had to be dreaming or something- Or having a nightmare. As he got into his car and started the drive home, he failed to notice the man dressed in black from the waiting room follow him.

--

Ziva, Gibbs, and McGee entered Tony's apartment, taking in the clutter and multiple empty pizza boxes. McGee raced over to the table next to the couch, and held up his _Deep Six_ novel.

"I _KNEW_ he stole it!" He said, triumphantly. He flipped through the book, checking for damage. When he saw the last page, the author biography with a picture of his face, he almost yelled. In sharpie, Tony doodled in a mustache, beard, eye patch, several scars, blacked out teeth, an earring, and a speech bubble with "I plagiarize life" written in it. Ziva walked over, and took the book from McGee. "Ziva!" He exclaimed as she put it in her bag. She narrowed her eyes at him, scaring the crap out of him. "Uh... You can read it..."

For half an hour, the looked around Tony's apartment, looking for anything that might tell them what was wrong, while staying out of the bedroom. Other than a few long brown hairs in the bathtub drain, too long to be Tony's, they found nothing. Finally, Gibbs walked into the bedroom. In the back of his head, he hoped Caplin's theory about Tony being in a sex coma was wrong... He did not want to walk in on a naked Tony.

"Typical Tony," Ziva commented as she walked into the bedroom appearing empty of human life, gesturing to the king-sized bed and cluttered floor. "I almost expected a race car bed, though... I didn't expect the dust-fluffer things, however."

"Dust-rufflers, Ziva," McGee corrected her as he opened the closet and several NCIS crime-scene kits toppled out. Another ten minutes passed before they finally left.

They found nothing and no one in Tony's apartment.

--

_Author's_ _Note_: Dun dun dun! Yeah, I had to have them break into Tony's apartment. And I've doodled on faces in newspapers before just like Tony did. Are they called Dust-rufflers? Oh, feel free to leave any predictions to what happens next!


	6. The Photo Album

_Author's Note_: Sorry it took so long! School and friends and home come before fanfiction. But this chapter is long, so I hope that makes up for the wait. But there is no Tony in this chapter. But it's got a lot of plot. I think.

I don't own NCIS or Sharpies. I own Caplin and Ted, though.

--

Jennifer Shepard sat on Tony's couch. She sent him out a while ago to refill her prescription, and was now reading McGee's _Deep Six_ novel again. She was nearing the end and couldn't help herself as her mind wondered to Gibbs. She loved him. She thought she loved him. She was pretty sure she loved him. There were definitely feelings towards him that she wasn't supposed to have. But she had them. Hell, she was willing to die for him. She faked her own death to protect him! However, her death in McGee's book didn't seem to affect 'L.J. Tibbs' too much. Sure, it was noted that he brooded a bit more than before and didn't trust the new director, 'Director Lance' as he trusted 'Director Jamie Herder,' even though she almost got 'Tommy' killed in a gruesome explosion over a personal grudge. She mentally noted that even though McGee was a very good writer, he wasn't that imaginative for the main plot lines or characters. His subplots, though, were fairly imaginative. He had 'Tommy' and 'Lisa' secretly get engaged by the point she was up to, 'Amy Sutton' was forced to discreetly cover a the rim of a drinking glass with clear poison to kill a homicidal man who kidnapped her, and 'McGreggor' was the victim of mistaken identity and was fighting for his life against the Irish Mafia at the moment. There were a few chapters left, and 'McGreggor' had a gun up against his head, courtesy of the Mob Boss. As Jenny was about to turn the page, she heard talking outside the door.

"Alright, Teddy-Boy," Started a woman's voice. It sounded familiar. The girl DiNozzo was constantly fighting with whenever he left the apartment...? "This is how you egg a Fed's door." Jenny chuckled. DiNozzo's neighbors were more immature than him. Soon, there were small cracking sounds pounding against Tony's door. After about ten minutes of egging and light conversation, a third voice arrived that made Jenny's blood run cold.

"What the hell?"

_'Crap!'_

Jenny dropped the novel onto the table, and immediately started searching for somewhere to hide. She told DiNozzo she would send an email to Gibbs and Vance saying he had to go to the doctor and would miss work today. Why did she forget Gibbs _never_ checked his emails?! He was probably having a famous gut-feeling about DiNozzo and here to look for him. Finally, she could think of nowhere else to hide but under DiNozzo's bed. She quietly sprinted to inside DiNozzo's room, and quietly shut the door as she heard another door open.

"I _KNEW_ he stole it!" McGee exclaimed from the other room. Jenny got onto the floor and crawled under the king-sized bed, both cursing DiNozzo for the smell and thanking him for having dust-rufflers. Surprisingly, he did not have too much under his bed. Aside from a gun near the front of the bed, an old pair of shoes, a binder that looked like a photo album, and several dust bunnies, Jenny was alone.

She waited quietly, wondering when her old subordinates would leave. She would hear a few snarky remarks on occasion, letting her know they were still there. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the door opened.

"Typical Tony," Ziva commented. "I almost expected a race car bed, though... I didn't expect the dust-fluffer things, however." Jenny sucked in her breath, sure they would find her.

"Dust-rufflers, Ziva," McGee corrected. He opened a door- the closet?- and Jenny heard something fall out. She laid on the floor, wondering when one of them would finally lift up the dust-ruffler and find her. She hated herself for hiding like a child.

"He's probably at some girl's house, boss. I'm sure he's fine," McGee commented as Jenny heard footsteps retreating from the room ten minutes later. There was silence.

"He's not." Gibbs said quietly, as if to himself. "Tony, what are you _hiding_?"

Jenny heard a door close, footsteps, and another door close. She waited another moment before she scurried out from under the bed.

--

"Some _Feds_ came to his apartment..." The man in the telephone booth in front of DiNozzo's apartment building reported to the person on the other side of the phone. He paused, listening to the person. "Said he was _'missing_.' Grey haired angry guy, hot foreign chick, guy from the back of that book you've been reading," He paused. "_Yes_ I'm sure!" Another pause. "Had on NCIS hats and jackets." Pause. "Caplin didn't know 'em personally. She knew they were Feds, though." Pause. "Naw. She's too _stupid_ to be trusted with this. As far as she knows, I've never even heard of NCIS." He paused and laughed. "Hell, I would have never known it existed if that _bitch_ didn't kill the Boss!" There was one final, long pause. "_Fuck_, man, I moved into this _dump_ for this! I am _committed_ to the assignment! You got Johnson on him, right? Then he's _still_ being monitored! _She_ is still being monitored! If you don't believe me, Kort, then you can come and check on Shepard for yourself!" The man hung up the phone and stormed out of the phone booth. He walked back to the building, up a few flights to his floor, and stopped in front of his apartment door. He was startled when he heard a door creak open behind him.

"Hey, Ted!" Caplin smiled at her new neighbor. She had taken a liking to him in the very short time that he was there. "Sorry about blaming you for the egging, earlier... I don't exactly have a good rep with NCIS, apparently." Ted raised his eyebrows.

"Really?" He asked, somewhat surprised.

"Well, not really the entire freakin' agency... In case you _haven't_ noticed, though, DiNozzo and I aren't exactly 'buddies.' It's a miracle he hasn't had me arrested for harassment, yet." Caplin sighed. "Goddamn Fed."

Ted smiled. He had a feeling he would _really_ like his new neighbor.

--

Jenny sat at the table in the kitchen area, head in her hands. It was _throbbing_. When would DiNozzo be back? She rummaged around a cabinet, looking for an aspirin. Nothing. Okay, maybe if she found something to take her mind off of the pain, she wouldn't notice it as much. Dammit, why did McGee have to take his novel with him? Mentally searching for something to preoccupy her, Jenny's mind flashed to the binder under Tony's bed. She walked back to the bedroom, pinched her nose, and reached under the bed and withdrew the binder. Jenny carried it back to the kitchen table. It was black and red, with scribbled and Abby's hand writing all over it.

She was pleased to know she was correct in guessing it was a photo album. The first page had a note, (written in black sharpie,) by Abby.

_Dear Tony,_

_I miss you, man! It sucks Vance reassigned you to Agent Afloat! Why haven't you called yet? You didn't fall off the boat, did you? That would suck if you did! Then I'd be writing to a dead man, and this would be lost forever! You'd be lost forever! I'm crying just thinking about it! It's bad enough Jenny just died, and now I'm worried about loosing you! Tony, come home! I bet Gibbs is fighting Vance right now, kicking his toothpick-biting ass, demanding him to bring back you and Ziva and get McGee out of that sucky crime lab basement! He better be! Nothing's been the same since that bastard disbanded the team!_

_Gibbs is going to get you home soon, Tony! I can feel it! He's gotta reunite everyone! We're like a family, and I miss you guys! I've always seen you as a half-brother. Want me to explain? If you don't, I'm gonna anyway._

_Gibbs and some red haired lady got married and had you and Kate. They divorced, (Big shock!) and Daddy Gibbs got custody 'cause she was an alcoholic bitch or something. Mama Jenny and a Jewish Ninja hooked up, and had Ziva, and the Ninja daddy went and died or something. Then Mama Jenny and Daddy Gibbs got married and had me! Oh, and McGee was raised by computer wolves and left on the front stoop. Ducky would be Gibbs' brother, making him Uncle Ducky! Jimmy'd be our freaky cousin. I'm having fun with this- But now I'm sad because I miss you all! You and Ziva and Jenny and Kate- everyone! Even though I see Gibbs and Ducky and Jimmy all the same as usual, and I have lunch with McGee all the time. But I miss you all as a group!_

_Dammit Tony come home!_

_Love, Abby._

Jenny smiled at Abby's letter. Had to be after she 'died,' and when Vance reassigned them all. Sure, it was... Strange, even by Abby standards, but sweet. Under Abby's ranting note to Tony was a group photograph of them all- Tony, Ziva, McGee, Gibbs, Abby, Ducky, Palmer, and Jenny. Abby even cut out a photocopied picture of Kate and stuck it in at the end. Jenny flipped through the photo album, seeing many pictures of people she never thought she'd see again. There were photos of what appeared to be back when Tony just started, all the way to Tony, Ziva, and Jenny herself right before they got onto the plane to Los Angeles. Jenny laughed when she saw a picture of Tony sticking his tongue out at Fornell when his back was turned, with a _'Kick Me'_ sign taped to the back of his suit. She saw McGee glaring at Tony, who had his arm around McGee.

Kate smiling.

Abby doing a hand stand.

Kate helping McGee unsuper-glue himself from his key board.

Gibbs head-slapping Tony.

Paula Cassidy punching Tony in the gut.

Ducky telling a story to Palmer, who was listening intently.

Ziva holding a paper clip threateningly.

Chip, the evil lab assistant, being lead out of the building in handcuffs and to jail.

Abby and McGee making ridiculous faces into the camera.

Palmer and Agent Lee glancing at each other awkwardly, and smiling.

Ducky giving Gibbs a cup of coffee.

Jenny standing next to Gibbs, both rolling their eyes.

Tony and Ziva laughing.

McGee standing nervously between Jethro the dog and Jethro the man.

Abby and Tony hugging.

Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, McGee, Jenny, and Ducky standing in the entrance of Abby's lab, with a thumb in the corner of the camera lens.

Jenny wiped away a stray tear as she continued to flip through the album. She missed them all. Out of everyone in the entire photo album, the only two who knew she was alive were Tony and Ducky. Ducky hated her for it, and Tony was still in denial that she was alive. Right now, Jenny _really_ regretted faking her own death.

"Why did I _do_ this?" She asked herself out loud.

"I would like to know, Jennifer Shepard," A familiar voice asked. Jenny whipped her head around, to see the one person she never wanted to see again. Jenny glared at the man, wishing nasty looks would make him go away.

"Why are you here, Trent Kort?"

--

_Author's Note_: Kort's here, and Ted's a bad guy. I like the part with the photo album, and Abby's letter. It's a bit corny, but I still liked it. Also liked the _Deep Six_ part. Feel free to leave predictions on what happens next, who might/should die (A bunch of people are gonna beg for Kort to die. I can feel it,) and what you think in general.


	7. What is going on?

_Author's Note_: Next chapter! A bit dramatic. You get to learn what brought Jenny to Tony! I hope I did well with the fight scene...

Don't own NCIS or _We didn't Start the Fire_ by Billy Joel, Youtube or anything else mentioned. I own Caplin, Deux Grenouille, and the three thugs, though.

--

Trent Kort leaned against the doorway of DiNozzo's apartment, an ugly sneer on his face. He had stitches in his face, one arm in a sling, and his good arm carried a cane for his lame leg. Jenny immediately thought of the gun under Tony's bed.

"Well, Jennifer," He said, walking slowly into the apartment. He closed the door behind him. "I'm here for you. Do you remember three days ago?" He asked, his expression turning deadly. Jenny remembered. Kort and three other men arrived at the small house on the outskirts of D.C. where she had lived in for a year. Men from La Grenouille's cartel. Their new boss- Rene Benoit's nephew, Jenny believed- had the same disease she did. They were there for two reasons.

One was medication.

The other was revenge.

The C.I.A. hadn't given up on operation Lodestone after La Grenouille was killed. Hell, it was intensified by their new boss's desire to take over his uncle's job. Trent Kort took Jenny's blame for La Grenouille's death. Kort was ordered to either put a bullet through the arms dealer's head or make sure he stayed in the game. It would not exactly look good for him if it became apparent that he lost his asset to the grudge-holding director of NCIS. Now, he was tying up loose ends. Deux Grenouille, the name given to the new head of the cartel, wanted revenge for his uncle, and sent three thugs with Kort to exact it.

The shootout began when a bullet broke through Jenny's window that night, barely missing her head. She immediately drew her gun from its holster, whipped around, and double-tapped the first man in the chest. He was dead before he hit the ground. A second man barged in through the back door behind Jenny and open fired. Two bullets grazed her left arm and shoulder, but nothing vital was hit. She ducked for cover, when Trent Kort and the last man came through the front. Jenny scrambled into another room, firing at her three assailants. Jenny shot Kort in his left leg and his right arm. She got the man who entered through the back door in the hand, forcing him to drop his gun, and she did not get the third man at all. Several bullets were shot through the door, narrowly missing Jenny. She frantically searched the room for more bullets when she realized she had no bullets left and anything else that she could use as a weapon. She smashed a mirror with the butt of her gun, sending large shards to the ground, cutting her arm. Jenny grabbed one razor sharp shard and waited for someone to open the door. The thug whose hand she shot opened the door with his good hand, and Jenny slashed his throat with the mirror shard. His blood spurted all over her as he fell to the ground and died. In a desperate attempt, Jenny hurled the glass and it slashed Kort's face. Kort howled in pain and anger before he and the remaining thug sent a wave of bullets her way as she ducked back into the room. As she opened the window, she quietly wondered how she managed to not be shot anywhere fatally.

"Dammit, I'm out of rounds!" The thug exclaimed before bending over to get his fallen companion's gun.

"I have one left." Kort said, "How many are in his gun?"

"Three," The thug reported, before Kort put his gun to his head.

"More than one," He replied, then pulled the trigger. Jenny heard the gunshot while slipping out the window. She saw two cars outside her house. One belonged to her, but her keys were inside her house, and Kort now had two more bullets than her. The other was the car her assailants took. Jenny smiled as she noticed the keys still in the ignition. She stole Kort's car, and drove into D.C. Where could she go?

She could not go to Jethro. She wouldn't endanger him like that. Ducky hated her when he found out she was still alive. He promised her he wouldn't tell Jethro if she never returned. Vance would never help her. Ziva would not take too kindly to her friend telling her she faked her own death. Abby would tell everyone, and her being alive would end up in McGee's new book.

That just left DiNozzo. He trusted Jenny, even after she caused him all his heartbreak. He did what she said, usually. When he wasn't listening to Gibbs, anyway. She trusted him with her life, even though she faked her death in L.A. Yes. Tony would be the best choice for her to go to. After disposing the car to a chop shop, Jenny found herself at DiNozzo's door.

"I remember," Jenny said, coming back to the present. She looked Kort square in the eye. "You shot a man on your own side."

"I needed his gun," Kort smirked. "It had two more bullets than I had. You shot and slashed two men, then stole my car," He stated. "Actually, I am impressed that someone so... Ill... Can fight for her life so well."

"I'm used to it," Jenny retorted as Kort hobbled over to the table and took a seat opposite of her. "I'm surprised you're still alive."

"I've survived worse," He taunted. "As you have probably guessed, I am here to kill you."

"I've guessed." Jenny spat. Kort sneered again.

"Unfortunately, I have one bullet in my gun, and you will probably somehow manage to dodge it."

"I will." Kort leaned in.

"Do you realize how hard it was for us to find you up until a few days ago? However, a few days ago you have started making it painfully easy for us." Kort smirked. Jenny remained calm, and decided to jaunt him back.

"It still took you two days to find me. It takes NCIS one at the most."

"We found you within hours, Jennifer," Kort taunted. "You and DiNozzo have been under surveillance since the moment you entered this building. Face it; you are going to die this time." Kort laughed. Jenny still remained calm.

"I doubt it," She smirked as the door slammed opened and Tony stormed in, gun drawn, pointing at Kort. Behind him, Jenny noticed the short blond woman peeking in.

"Why is the Devil in my apartment?"

--

Tony drove home from the doctor's office, still angry and confused. Why was the name 'Tony DiNardo' listed for Jenny's next of kin? How long was it there? And why was his dead boss in his apartment? He needed a distraction. Tony angrily pressed the button to turn on the radio, and _We didn't start the fire_, by Billy Joel, started. Tony gripped the steering wheel and sighed. Sure, it was a good song, but now it was going to be stuck in his head for weeks. He continued driving as he listened to Billy Joel list many major events and people in history.

When he was back at his apartment building, he started humming the song to himself. By the time he got to his floor, he was all out singing.

"We didn't start the fire! It was always burnin' since the world's been turnin'! We didn't start the fire! No we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it!" He screeched, very off key. "Something something something something Communist Block!" He attempted, forgetting the lyrics. Caplin came out of her apartment to investigate the horrible singing.

"Stop. You sound like a dying cat," She commanded. Tony, whose back was to her, whipped around, embarrassed. He was glad she didn't have a camera, though. He would hate for that to go on Youtube.

"Are you dissing Billy Joel?" he joked.

"No, you are by raping, killing, and dumping his song into a dumpster," She rolled her eyes. Tony shrugged. He'd heard worse insults to his singing. As he turned to walk into his apartment, Caplin stopped him. "DiNozzo, wait." She commanded. Again, Tony turned around. "Some feds you work with came looking for you. Said you were missing..." She scrunched up her nose. "Grey haired guy seemed to think you were dead or something."

"Gibbs always thinks I'm dead or in a crap load of trouble," He stated, looking to his door. Did they find her? "They still here?" He asked, jerking his thumb at the door.

"They aren't, the creepy bald guy is." She stated. Tony's eyes grew wide.

"Creepy bald guy?" Tony repeated. "He look like a movie stereotype government bad guy?" Caplin nodded. "Crap!" He exclaimed, and drew his gun. Caplin gasped and stepped away.

"What are you doing?" She demanded, eyeing over the gun. "You aren't gonna shoot everything up, are you?" Caplin glared at Tony. He hesitated.

"Baldy will do anything to get his way," He stated. "Go downstairs," He commanded Caplin before handing her his cell phone. "Call speed dial one. Good chance there'll be a shootout. No need for civilian deaths. Gibbs'll be here before you can finish the call." Caplin glared at him defiantly.

"No!" She exclaimed. "If you die they'll probably blame me!" Tony sighed.

"Stop being stupid and get out of here!" He commanded. Caplin sighed and turned around, and started to walk away. Tony turned his back on her, and kicked in his door. Immediately, Caplin ran back to the commotion.

"Why is the Devil in my apartment?" Tony spat, pointing his gun at the man sitting in his chair. He barely noted Jenny sitting across from Kort. It made Tony sick to see the man who he hated so much sitting casually at his cluttered table, still smirking. Tony noted Kort's injuries- He could take the C.I.A. agent, probably.

"You won't shoot me," Kort sneered. Tony glared at him. "You would never kill a man if you didn't need to, much less with a witness," He pointed behind Tony to Caplin.

"Dammit, Caplin!" He exclaimed, without looking behind him. "I told you to go downstairs and call Gibbs!"

"You were going to kill this man!" She exclaimed. "How do you expect me to walk away from that?"

"I would only kill him if he tried to kill someone else!" He defended himself. Jenny pushed her chair back and smirked.

"See, Trent?" She teased, receiving a glare from the rouge C.I.A. agent. "I told you I wouldn't die."

"No, you said you doubted you'd die." He stood up, startling Tony. "DiNozzo, you know you won't kill me, and I'm not so stupid to put up a fight when I am injured, out numbered, and only have a single bullet. I believe it would be beneficiary for us both if I just left," Kort smirked, and pushed his way out of the apartment. "I will see you both again." Caplin stood behind Tony, confused. He allowed himself to lower his gun, and watched Kort leave. Jenny sat in silence. After a few moments of silence, Caplin walked over to the table and placed Tony's cell phone on it.

"I'm going to forget what just happened." She said, looking between Jenny and Tony. She turned, and left the apartment. "I need rum," She muttered to herself. Tony stared at Jenny, who stared back. Tony's eyes dropped to the photo album on the table. He grabbed it, and returned it to its place under his bed. He hesitated momentarily while kneeling next to his bed. Deciding it would be best for both their safety, Tony took the gun from under his bed. He walked back into the kitchen, sat in the seat Kort sat minutes before, and gingerly placed the gun in front of Jenny. They looked each other in the eye.

"What the hell is going on?"

--

_Author's Note_: That isn't the last of Kort, so all you people who want him dead, don't give up hope. Hell, I even already had the crap beaten out of him. Oh, I don't think Tony would be a good singer. At all.


	8. Why?

_Author's Note_: Oh my god! I'm so sorry this took so long! I've recently become addicted to random other things which made me forget! Also, a shit load of school finals and stuff, friends, family, and the impending doom of moving to a different town and having to start over when I finally started to talk to people takes up time. (I move in August. This should be long done by then.)

Oh; on my profile I have a poll relating to this fic, concerning who should die in it. I already decided several who have no chance at living to through the last chapter, but I'm on the fence about one or two. Also want to see what anyone reading this thinks. Please go vote.

Don't own NCIS, or anything else mentioned.

--

Quietly, Tony listened to Jenny as she recounted the events from when she popped the pill that made it seem like she was dead to when Kort uttered the phrase "You are going to die this time." She expected Tony to get angry, for him to yell at her or hit the table and storm out. He simply stared at her, his face void of emotions. It was a little scary.

"...And then you came in, and here we are." She finished, still waiting for Tony to say something. Wordlessly, he got up and poured himself some water from to faucet.

"I should have known," He said, back facing Jenny. "If I were to go crazy and see a dead woman, I would have seen Kate or Cassidy, or my mom, or hell, even Lee." He sighed. "At least, I think I would prefer to see them." He turned around, looking more serious than Jenny ever saw him. "Why?" He demanded, reminding her of Gibbs.

"Why what?" She asked, lowering her eyes.

"Why _everything_! Why did you fake your death? Why did you come here? Why didn't you go to Gibbs? Dammit, Jenny, why?!" He yelled, banging his fist on the table. She looked at him again. Tony wasn't only angry, he was upset- disappointed.

"I needed to..." She started. "I needed to protect you all-"

"So you protect us by leaving Gibbs to deal with some crazy lady who had a grudge against you? By letting Vance break up our team and almost get Ziva blown up in a secret operation? By letting Lee be coerced into treason and kill Langer, then ends up getting herself killed? By bringing the guy who tried to kill me to my apartment?! He's probably strapping a bomb to my car as we speak!" Tony countered, his voice growing louder as he yelled at Jenny.

"I never knew any of that would happen!" She yelled back. "Dammit, DiNozzo, I did what I thought was best! What happened to Lee and Langer was a tragedy, but it would have happened anyway!" She exclaimed. "I didn't plan on faking my death when we went to L.A.! After I heard the code, I prepared myself! After the funeral, I was planning on disbanding the team, too!" Tony felt his breath leave him like he was punched in the stomach. "Instead of you all being separated, I was going to make you, Ziva, and McGee a separate team from Gibbs so he could find the mole!" She spat, before finally looking at Tony. He was hurt, that much was obvious. He walked back to the table, grabbed his cell phone, then walked towards the door.

"I blamed myself for your death; I was a wreck. I have to ask, did you even care when I died?" He questioned, turning his head back to look at her. Jenny, still angry, scoffed at him.

"You were never dead, DiNozzo."

"That's what I thought you'd say," He mumbled, before he left the apartment. He passed Caplin in the hall, slumped against the wall with a half-empty bottle of liquor in her hands. They didn't even acknowledge each other. Tony kept walking until he got to his car. He hesitated, hand on the door. He stepped away from it, and started examining every inch of the exterior for a bomb.

"Hey, man, what are you doing?" An unfamiliar voice behind him asked. Tony turned around to see the six-foot-tall man. He was new to the building, diagonal from him. What was his name? Todd, right? He was pretty sure it was Todd.

"Making sure there's no bombs on my car," Tony responded, slightly aware the man was described as 'a crazy government conspiracy theorist.' "You see, the C.I.A. was in my apartment, and they like blowing up my car when they aren't randomly killing people."

Todd laughed. "Amen to that. I swear, they implanted a mind-control chip in my brain. Malfunctioned, though..." Tony snickered. This guy was a nutcase. "So why'd they blow up your car?"

"Ahh, they don't like NCIS. I'm guessing you don't know what it is," He said, as Todd shook his head. "Stands for, uh... Can't tell ya, or I'd have to kill you." Tony joked, enjoying screwing with this guy. He laughed as Todd's eyes grew wide, and took a few steps back. "Joking. It stands for Naval Criminal Investigation Service. No one ever knows it," He sighed.

"So, you like, work for a real life CSI?" Todd asked. "Supported by the government?"

"CSI for the Navy and Marines," Tony corrected, before he started looking over his car again. When he was satisfied, he got in. "There aren't any big conspiracies, Todd."

"It's _Ted_. And everything's a conspiracy, man!" Tony laughed at his new neighbor as he pulled out and drove to the Navy Yard. On his way, he tried thinking of excuses. Jenny said she left an email, but he knew Gibbs never checked his email. Tony found it strange no one called him... Until he realized he never turned his phone on. He had about three messages from Ziva, asking where he was, McGee asking where he was and threatening him for stealing his book, and a wrong number. He pulled into a parking spot, and entered the building.

--

"Where the hell is DiNozzo?!" Gibbs spat as McGee and Ziva typed on their computers, trying to find Tony. "McGee, can't you trace him on his phone?!" He demanded.

"I tried, Boss, I don't think his phone is on..." McGee said, before trying again. This time, he yielded results, "The hell? It says he's here, Boss," McGee said as Ziva and Gibbs crowded around his computer to see the results. As they were doing that, the elevator 'dinged' and opened. Tony walked into the bull pen, unnoticed by his friends. "Should I call him?"

"Call who?" He asked, as they all looked up at him. Ziva and McGee let out sighs of relief, as Gibbs walked over and head slapped him.

"Where the hell were you?!" He demanded. Tony flinched slightly.

"You're being a little rougher than usual, Boss," He noted before Gibbs head slapped him again. "Should have seen that coming; I was at the hospital." Tony declared, walking over to his desk. "I was coughing up a lung, earlier. Thought I'd save you guys the 'You can either walk into the hospital or be carried in' speech. You'd be extra paranoid with the Swine Flu still going around..." He frowned and hesitated. "Turned out to just be a cough." They all stared at Tony.

"I do not believe you," Ziva declared, walking over to him. "I called-"

"My phone was off," Tony cut her off. "Forgot about it until a little while ago. Got all of your messages," He turned to McGee. "You really need to learn to manage your anger better, Probie." McGee rolled his eyes.

"You stole my book, DiNozzo. I'm pretty sure it's been leaked all over the internet by now." Tony laughed mirthlessly.

"Well, you got it back, didn't you?" He asked spitefully. "You guys broke into my apartment!" All three of them raised their eyebrows. "My neighbor told me when I got back to my apartment; Got groceries on the way home, needed to drop them off," Tony lied seamlessly. Gibbs stared at Tony for what seemed like an eternity.

"Why didn't you call?" He demanded. Tony shrugged.

"I sent an email; I forgot you don't use yours." Gibbs snarled and stormed out without checking his email. Tony scrunched up his nose, anticipating something bad would happen. Ziva and McGee looked at each other, and then followed Gibbs, leaving Tony alone in the bull pen. "Wow, I feel loved today."

--

"Abby!" Gibbs yelled as he entered her lab. She spun around and eyed the Caf-Pow in his hand, before reaching for it as McGee and Ziva entered behind their boss.

"Gibbs! You guys don't have a case today!" She stated, frowning when Gibbs pulled the Caf-Pow away from her.

"Something's up with DiNozzo," Gibbs stated, and frowned when he saw her fidgeting. "You know." Abby mentally debated what to do in her head, before looking at Gibbs sadly.

"Yeah, but I can't tell you," She bounced up and down. "He didn't leave me any loop holes... Except..." She smirked and grabbed a pen and paper, before looking slyly at Team Gibbs. "Dear Diary," She said loudly and clearly, while writing on the paper. Gibbs laughed silently, and McGee and Ziva exchanged glances. "Today I decided to keep a diary. Yesterday, Tony came to see me. It was his day off, so I thought it was weird. And it was. He made me run his urine for hallucinogen drugs; None were there, by the way. Just some left over alcohol from the night before and some aspirin. He told me," She glanced at Gibbs, before swallowing. "He told me that he was seeing... He was seeing dead people. He was afraid someone drugged him or something, so he came to me, and made me promise not to tell Gibbs." She looked at the Team sheepishly as they reacted. Ziva and McGee were astonished and worried. Gibbs looked at her sternly.

"Who?" He demanded. Abby shrunk back a bit. "Dammit, who, Abby?!"

"Director Sheppard," Abby said meekly. All the color drained from McGee and Ziva's faces, as Gibbs looked at Abby like she just told him Tony was a murderer.

"_What_?!"

--

_Author's Note:_ Sorry that it's short. Sorry if it's out-of-character. And I'll stop apologizing next chapter.


	9. Elevator Conference 1

_Author's Note:_ I've had so many distractions lately, I'm sorry it's taken so long. Mostly I blame that I'm trying to seriously attempt original fiction, and I try to write a bit for it every day. Yesterday and today I wrote this instead. Here's the next chapter. And yay, Ducky! I love writing for Ducky, I have to do it more often!

Don't own anything from the show.

--

Tony stood alone in the bull pen momentarily, before he picked up his phone on the desk. Gibbs, McGee, and Ziva were probably on their way to see Abby now, and although Tony trusted her with his life, it was only a matter of minutes before Gibbs knew about Jenny. And Tony saw two possible things happening. One was Gibbs exploding at him in the elevator. The other was Gibbs firing him in the elevator. Tony flinched at the thought. Gibbs wouldn't fire him, would he...? He punched the number for autopsy into his phone, and waited until the other end was picked up.

"Autopsy!" Ducky chimed cheerfully. Tony briefly considered what he would say. Ducky, you lied about Jenny being dead? "Is anyone there? Jethro?" Ducky asked after Tony hadn't spoken for a moment. "Jethro, is that you?"

"It's Tony," He said, still planning what he would say.

"Ah, Anthony! You're here! You gave your team quite the scare before! Where in the world were-"

"Ducky," Tony cut him off, tone grave. "We need to talk." Tony could sense the good doctor's surprise and fear through the phone. "I'll be there in a few minutes," He said briskly before hanging up the phone without a second thought. Quietly, he attempted to plan what he would say as he walked down several flights of stairs to autopsy.

--

"What the hell, Kort?!" Ted spewed at the beaten C.I.A. agent sitting on his couch. Kort simply glanced at him, before sipping hot coffee from the mug he held in his good hand. "You actually fucking came?! Without telling me?!" Kort ignored Ted, aggravating him further. "Dude, I told you they were still being monitored!"

"You also told me to check on Shepard myself if I didn't believe you," He said emotionlessly. "Obviously, if you were better at monitoring, you would not have allowed NCIS in, and DiNozzo would not have walked in on our little conversation." Ted seethed.

"What was I supposed to do?! Blow our cover?!" He growled. Kort glanced at him again.

"Improvise. You claim to be a government conspiracy theorist, surely you could have thought of something idiotic to spew when they were breaking into his apartment," Kort told Ted. "And it could not be hard to distract DiNozzo," He drank some more coffee as Ted fumed. In the Deux Grenouille cartel, he was low on the ladder, not much more than a mindless thug. Kort decided to change the subject. "Did you put the tracker on DiNozzo's car?" He asked. Ted smirked cockily.

"Yeah! Pretty tricky, too, seeing how he thought you strapped a bomb to his car and checked it all over. Slapped it on the back after he got in," He reported. "Tiny little thing. Will it really be able to tell us where he is?" Kort nodded wordlessly. "Hey, why don't we just go and kill Shepard now?" He asked.

"Because," Kort started. "We have to wait until back up arrives."

"Why?" Ted asked, repulsed by the thought of needing backup.

"DiNozzo is going to bring his friends who know about Shepard back to his apartment," Kort reported. "They would have to make some plan to what they would do. Among the pests we have to exterminate are an assassin and a Marine Sniper. I may be an excellent killer, but the odds are against us if only you and I go up against them," He sneered.

"Pests? Exterminate?"

"You sound like a parrot," Kort commented, before standing up. "We cannot let anyone who knows live. DiNozzo and his friends are as doomed as Jennifer Shepard."

--

Tony took a deep breath as he approached Ducky. The Medical Examiner immediately launched into a fuss over Tony.

"What is wrong, Tony? Are you sick? Yes, you look a tad pale, have you been sleeping well lately? You sure don't look it. The bags under your eyes suggest-"

"Ducky, I'm fine-"

"What have you been eating? Is your cholesterol higher than it is supposed to be? I told you to stop eating so much pizza and take out! Vegetables are your friends, my boy! Good god, your breath reeks! When was the last time you brushed your teeth, Anthony?"

"What? Yesterday-"

"Brush them every day, twice a day, and floss! I have had people end up on my autopsy table in the past because they lacked proper oral hygiene before! Why, one man had his tooth break off while he was sleeping and he choked to death on it-"

"Ducky, I won't choke on my teeth-"

"Of course you won't, because you _will_ start brushing your teeth properly!"

"I _do_ brush my teeth properly!" Tony exclaimed, running a hand over his face as Ducky continued to talk on and on about how he should take better care of himself. He decided it would be best to let Ducky get it all out of his system before moving onto the Jenny issue, and just stood there while Ducky rambled on and on. Finally, Ducky finished.

"Now what was so urgent on the phone?" He demanded. Tony make an over exaggerated sigh.

"I honestly don't remember it was so long ago," He joked. "Oh, yeah," He said, walking to the elevator and pushing the up button. Ducky furrowed his brow, and walked over to where Tony stood.

"You're acting like Gibbs, you know," He commented. Tony sighed.

"Yeah, I know," He said curtly as the elevator door opened. He and Ducky walked in, and as soon as it started to move Tony flipped the emergency stop switch. He mentally scrambled for something to say before he finally blurted something out. "Why didn't you tell us Jenny is alive?!" Ducky's eyes grew wide, and Tony was momentarily worried that his initial belief he was crazy was correct. However, he could tell when people lied to him (sometimes), and he knew Ducky was lying.

"Wh-What are you talking about? Jennifer is dead, Anthony, you should get your head checked-"

"She's at my apartment sitting, around, waiting for Kort to break into my apartment again." Tony stated. "I know I'm not crazy, Ducky." He watched as his friend paled and sighed.

"I told her to not come back," He said. "Jethro loved her, even if he refused to admit it," Ducky frowned. "Her death devastated Abigail, it hurt us all. Needless to say, I was very angry when she turned out to be alive." Tony nodded. He himself was pissed off when he finally accepted she was alive. "I believed it would be best if she cut her ties to us completely when she started her new life over. She would be able to start over easier if she knew no one, she would endanger us less, and all involved would be in less pain," Ducky explained.

"Well, now she's got Kort and Frog Two-Point-O's goons after her and me because she thought I'd be the best protection detail," Tony reported. "I refused to believe that she was real for a whole day, I even had Abby run my piss to see if I was drugged."

"Abby? Who else knows about Jenny, Tony?" Ducky asked.

"Abby still thinks I'm seeing ghosts. Gibbs, Probie, and Ziva went to see her, though, 'cause of Gibbs' gut, so they probably know by now," He sighed. "He is actually going to kill me this time...!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Ducky laughed nervously. "You just didn't want to hurt anyone unnecessarily, I'm sure Jethro'll... Understand..." He finished, unsure.

"Geeze, Ducky, that sounded convincing."

--

_Author's Note:_ I... I don't know. Sorry it's short. Oh, please vote in my poll on my profile. And please review!


	10. Elevator Conference 2

_Author's Note_: Sorry it took so damn long! It's past three A.M., and I am forced to go to my sister's baby shower tomorrow. (She is over thirty and has been married for around eight years, by the way). This chapter's a bit dramatic. And short. Sorry! Sorry! My brain stopped functioning after I figured out what would happen in this chapter. Also, spiders show up a lot more after midnight.

I don't own anything.

--

The elevator door opened on the floor with Abby's lab with a 'ding!' As both Tony and Ducky expected, a very angry Gibbs was waiting there. The moment he made eye contact with Tony, the younger man felt his blood turn cold from the glare Gibbs sent him.

"Ducky," Gibbs started, his voice dripping with venom. His eyes never left Tony's. "Out. I need a private word with him," He jerked his thumb at Tony. Ducky scrambled out of the elevator, as Tony just stood there. Gibbs stepped onto said elevator, not breaking eye contact with Tony once. Determined to hold onto the small shred of dignity he had left, he didn't look away from Gibbs. Tony quietly contorted his face into an emotionless mask, stowing away his fear of whatever Gibbs had in store for him. At best, Tony was hoping for a verbal (and possibly physical) ass kicking. Compared to being fired, being beaten up by the father figure seemed comforting. The elevator door closed behind Gibbs, who let it get half way to the next floor before flipping the emergency stop switch. "What the hell were you thinking?" He demanded, his voice low and deadly, almost a whisper. Somehow, this was ten times worse than Gibbs yelling at the top of his lungs.

"I..." Tony attempted to speak, still staring Gibbs straight in the eye. His boss's blue orbs held a metaphorical rainbow of emotions. Anger. Disappointment. Fear. Fear for his subordinate's sanity, Tony guessed. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and had to look away. His reflex to tell a joke was about to kick in. Tony opened his mouth to speak, but nothing more than a barely audible, distressed squeak was emitted.

"You didn't think, did you?" Gibbs asked, his voice steady. "Well, DiNozzo? Did you think?!" His voice was slowly rising. "Dammit, DiNozzo! What the hell were you thinking?!" He yelled. Tony involuntarily flinched. "You see dead people, and you don't tell me?! Do you realize your mental health puts the rest of us at risk? This isn't just about you!" Gibbs barked. "I've put up with a lot of crap from you before, but this one crosses the line! You could have endangered us all! Give me one good reason I shouldn't fire your ass right here and now!" Tony looked Gibbs in the eye, determined to hold his own against his boss. Vaguely, he remembered his fights with his father when he was a teenager. Angry words from over reactions and thoughtless snarky remarks flew, benefiting neither side of the argument. _'Not this time,'_ Tony thought. _'I'm not fighting with Gibbs; I'm saving Jenny's life.'_ Gathering his courage and determination, he spoke.

"I'm not crazy," He said. Tony was surprised how sure and steady his voice sounded. "Jenny is alive, Gibbs. She faked her death to protect everyone- Backfired, but she' alive! She's been hiding out for the last year, she came to me a few days ago!" Gibbs stared at Tony in disbelief, before shoving his open palm in front of Tony.

"NCIS Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, you are hereby _relieved_ of duty due to your mental health. Hand over your weapon and badge," Gibbs demanded coolly. Tony felt as if the wind was knocked out of him as panic set in.

"_No_!" He replied. "No! I will not be fired! I'm not crazy, Gibbs!" Tony stressed, before he had an idea- A _brilliant_ idea. "I have proof she's still alive!" He declared, catching Gibbs off-guard. "She's been reading McGee's book all weekend! The _new_ book! Her finger prints' have to be on it! Also, Ducky knows she's alive!" He looked Gibbs in the eye, knowing he must look pitiful. His boss was shaken that his best friend allegedly knew Jenny was alive, but Gibbs hid it well. "Just check the book for her prints and talk to Ducky before you fire me! Please, Gibbs!" Tony pleaded. "If her prints aren't on it and Ducky says she's dead, you can check me into a mental institution yourself!"

Gibbs reached his hand to the back of Tony's head, before administering a head slap. He grunted and turned the elevator back on. Tony's face broke into a wide smile when Gibbs looked away. The reaction Gibbs gave him was as good as a yes.

"Stop smiling!" Gibbs barked at Tony. "Even if you're right, I'm kicking your ass so hard you'll puke up my boot!"

--

Excluding the blaring music and the whizzing and whirling of the machines, it was quiet in Abby's lab. Eerily quiet. Ziva and McGee were still in shock from being told Tony saw their dead boss, Abby hung her head in shame for breaking her promise of not telling Gibbs, and Gibbs himself had long since stormed out. Ziva frowned.

"Why would Tony keep this from us?" She asked, her question aimed at McGee. "Are we not on the same team, yes? Does he not _trust_ us?" Ziva steamed, her expression morphing from shock to anger. McGee noticed this, and tried to calm down the assassin.

"I'm sure Tony was just afraid of being fired," He defended his friend. Abby raised her head.

"He was really nervous... He didn't want anyone to know... I made a pinkie promise not to tell..." The gothic woman moped. "Now I broke my promise and Gibbs is actually going to kill him!"

"Gibbs is _not_ going to kill Tony, Abby..." McGee declared.

"Don't be so sure!" Gibbs barked, re-entering the lab, literally _dragging_ Tony behind him by his ear. For some reason, Tony was smiling. "McGee! Book!" Gibbs demanded. McGee stuttered out a reply.

"I- I lent it to Ziva, Boss," He said. Ziva narrowed her eyes at McGee, and glared at Tony.

"It is on my desk," She told Gibbs. "I will go get it, yes?"

"Yes. _NOW_!" Gibbs commanded. Ziva scurried out, McGee following her. "Abby!" The scientist nodded, eyeing over the hand pinching Tony by the ear. "I need you to get some prints off McGee's book," He said. "This is to be done off the book!" Abby nodded again, stopping herself from going for the obvious pun. "I need you to compare them to NCIS Director Jenny Shepard's finger prints."

"Wait, so Jenny's alive?" Abby asked, her eyes growing wide. Tony nodded wordlessly.

"She _better_ be, for DiNozzo's sake!" Gibbs said, before dragging Tony out by his ear again. Tony bit his tongue to keep himself from complaining as they made their way to autopsy. Ducky and Jimmy were working on the body of a dead Staff Sergeant, Ducky half way through a long winded story. "Doctor Mallard!" Gibbs called out.

"Jethro, nice to see y-"

"Why the hell did you lie?" Gibbs demanded, finally letting go of Tony's ear. Discreetly, Tony rubbed his ear.

"Uh, I gotta go do something somewhere else..." Jimmy said, seeing the sparks fly from Gibbs. The young M.E.'s assistant left the cold, white room in a hurry. Gibbs didn't even glance at Jimmy, focusing only on Ducky. Ducky looked between Tony and Gibbs, before sighing.

"I guess Abby told you that young Anthony was seeing ghosts by now," Ducky deduced. Tony quietly grumbled about being called '_young Anthony_' to himself.

"What was your first guess, Duck?!" Gibbs spat sarcastically. Ducky ignored the hostility in his friend's voice.

"Well, Jethro, Tony was not seeing ghosts. I can assure you Jenny Shepard is alive."

--

_Author's Note_: I don't like the last line. But as I said, past three A.M. I'm going to pass out on my keyboard if I try to think of something better. Other than that, I quite like how this chapter came out! But parts seem out of character... Please review!


	11. You can't come back from death

_Author's Note_: I'm tired. Two-thirty A.M., and lack of sleep for the entire week. My sister had her kid the day of her baby shower two weeks ago, by the way.

I don't own much. Ted, Caplin, La Grenouille's nephew, the goons... That's it..

--

It was rare Leroy Jethro Gibbs was left speechless. Sure, there were plenty of times when people said something that would shock any normal person and Gibbs wouldn't speak, but that was because he was a man of few words. He believed that his actions spoke much louder than his words. And his actions usually ended with a murderer getting shot. This surprise, however, truly left him speechless. Gibbs stared at his friend, mouth slightly open instead of gaping, a mix of anger, surprise and disbelief evident in his face. Ducky fidgeted, avoiding looking Gibbs in the eye. He didn't even try to hide his shame in himself.

"...Jenny is..." Gibbs started, words faltering. Ducky nodded, awaiting the explosion from Gibbs. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Jethro, Jennifer faked her death on her own accord. She wished to protect us all; She wanted to protect _you_ most of all," Ducky started, his voice low and careful. "She believed you would be safest if she left. Both of us thought it would be easiest and safest for all involved if no one was to know," He paused. "Her disease also may have contributed to her decision. She believes, or at least did believe last time I saw her, this was the only way for her to receive medicine. She believed she was being hunted for it, Jethro."

"Then _you_ should have put her in a mental hospital or a therapist's office, Duck!" Gibbs barked angrily. "You can come back from crazy, you can't come back from death!"

"I did not betray you, Jethro-" Ducky started, before being cut off by Gibbs.

"I never said you did!"

"-But you _feel_ it," Ducky stated. Gibbs narrowed his eyes, unwilling to admit he did, in fact, feel betrayed. Betrayed by Jenny for this... This _conspiracy_, betrayed by Ducky for allowing her to carry on her scheme, and betrayed by Tony for not telling him. Hell, Gibbs felt like he betrayed himself for not realizing sooner. "I was trying to protect you, as Jenny wanted." Gibbs opened his mouth to interject, but Ducky stopped him. "I was trying to protect you from a broken heart. You loved her, and it hurt you when she died. I knew it would be _much_ worse if you discovered she was alive, so I didn't tell you, and I told her to not come back!"

"And what did you plan for when I _found_ _out_?!" Gibbs demanded from Ducky. Tony stood forgotten off to the side, feeling awkward. He didn't belong in this conversation. Slowly, he attempted to edge towards the door. "One more inch, DiNozzo, and I'll rip your arm off!" Gibbs yelled, not even bothering to look behind him,

"Got it, Boss!" Tony said weakly, wondering how Gibbs knew... Oh, wait. He's _Gibbs_. He knew almost everything. Ducky ignored the short exchange between the two field agents and answered Gibbs' question.

"I planned for pretty much this very conversation, minus Anthony of course, and get the body bags ready for the deadly fight that would inevitably be the result!" Ducky huffed.

"What, you think we're going to _shoot_ each other?!" Gibbs growled.

"No-"

"Boss, Jenny is in trouble," Tony interjected. Both Gibbs and Ducky whipped around to look at Tony, waiting for him to continue. "The C.I.A. replaced La Grenouille with his nephew for Operation Lodestone, and Froggy Junior holds a grudge against her. He apparently sends a lot of expandable goons after her every few days. Kort wants her dead too, for some reason, and they know she's at my apartment. The bastard already went after her the day before she came to me, and she pretty much beat the crap out of him, and then he broke into my apartment earlier. My guess is he left for backup." Tony reported. Gibbs glared at his senior field agent.

"And you just left her _alone_?!" He demanded. Tony, taken aback, stuttered out a response.

"I- I gave her a gun- I was pissed off, so I sorta- She can take care of herself-"

"You're an idiot!" Gibbs said coolly, before storming out of Autopsy.

"I just can't win, can I?" Tony asked Ducky, before running after Gibbs. "On your six, Boss!" He barely reached the elevator before the doors almost closed. Gibbs slipped his hand between the closing doors, making them open. Tony grinned appreciatively at Gibbs, who just rolled his eyes. They rode the elevator up to Abby's lab. The doors opened to blaring music and Abby standing expectantly.

"Gibbs! Tony!" She yelled, grabbing each one by their wrists, and dragged them into her lab. "Tony isn't crazy! They match! The finger prints match! Jenny's-"

"-Alive." Gibbs finished, shaking her off. Feeling dejected, Abby frowned and nodded. "The _genius_ here," He said bitterly, jabbing his thumb in Tony's direction, "Left her alone with a bunch of murderous creeps after her, knowing where she is." Tony just looked away from Abby, expecting her to be angry.

"We have to save her, don't we?" McGee asked tentatively, standing in the doorway. Ziva stood next to him, glaring at Tony. Gibbs looked at his younger field agent.

"I am, it's your choice to if you get mixed up in this mess," He stated. Tony sighed.

"I have to. It's my fault..." He couldn't help but think of L.A. If he did a better job there, she wouldn't have faked her death, and they wouldn't be here. Briefly, Jenny's empty face flickered across his mind. When she was dead. He couldn't let her die twice...!

"I'll help," Ziva said tersely, still glaring at Tony. McGee looked at his teammates.

"Count me in," He decided. Abby was about to chime in with a similar statement, before Gibbs stopped her with a glare. He wouldn't let Abby get mixed up in this.

--

Soon after Trent Kort called the cartel for backup, almost everyone in Tony's apartment building was evacuated for emergency bug spraying. A group of about six burly men knocked on each door, yelling about how there were nasty termites and everyone needed to get out as soon as possible. They purposely skipped Tony's floor, before finally walking down, knocking on doors.

"Yo, you need to get out soon, ma'am. Bring your kids and any pets, too. 'Mergency bug killing. I know you ain't got no notice, but damn, you'll die from the fuckin' fumes if you don't get the hell out now!" Echoed down the hall as they slowly progressed to the last four doors. One man knocked on the second-to-last on one side, and Ted came out.

"Ready?" He asked, looking around.

"Almost, Ted-o. Two more doors," One of the six men said, before banging on the door next to Ted's apartment, yelling at the resident to leave immediately. A scared man scurried away and out the building from the apartment. Another went and knocked on the door across from Ted.

"Yo! Get the _hell_ out! Fumigation!" He yelled. When there was no response, he yelled louder. And louder. And _louder_.

"Caplin probably ain't here," Ted concluded. If he bothered to look through the peephole, he could have seen her passed out drunk on the floor, in an uneasy sleep. Finally, the seven men's eyes landed on Anthony DiNozzo's door.

"Do we kill her yet?" One asked, quietly.

"No," Kort said, emerging from the apartment. He noted that several of the men carried tanks of liquids, and he could smell the gasoline from where he stood. "We need to wait for NCIS to try and save her, so we can kill them, too. Are you going to set this building ablaze?"

"Hell yeah," One man shook a tank. "This place is going up in flames, NCIS bastards in all."

--

_Author's Note_: It's short. Sorry. I need to write longer chapters. This one feels off to me, but I'm 50% asleep at the moment... Oh; Jenny didn't tell Tony she killed The Frog and that's why Kort is after her, if you were wondering. Please review.


	12. Childish Perceptions

_Author's Note_: I had no problem writing this up until the parking lot scene, hit a small road block, then got the juices running again. Only a few chapters left after this one. Two or three (including the epilogue). I've already decided who lives and who dies, but the poll on my profile will be open until the chapter after this one. I want to see what you all think.

I don't own anything other than a few crappy characters

--

Jenny sat in a chair facing the door, several yards back from it. She had the gun DiNozzo gave her in both her left hand and in several pieces on her lap. With her right hand, she had the cloth she always carried around to clean her guns with. There was going to be a shoot out, that much she knew. There were several men in the hallway yelling loudly about fumigations and murder. Jenny didn't fail to notice they hadn't tried to warn the residents in DiNozzo's apartment. She glared up at the door as she put the now clean disassembled gun back together. She had these exact feelings before, many, _many_ times.

There _would_ be blood.

Someone _would_ die.

A massive cover up _would_ follow.

Jenny shivered in anticipation. The bastards in the hall were waiting for DiNozzo to return. They wanted to ambush him and anyone he brought to help. Silently, Jenny prayed he would never come back. She already put him through hell four times- When her own personal obsession forced him to fall in love, which ended sourly. When she killed La Grenouille and he took the fall (even though it was only temporarily.) When she faked her own death on his watch. And last but not least, telling him the truth and forcing him to hide her and lie to Jethro. Jenny knew DiNozzo wouldn't want to endanger anyone else, and there was a possibility he would return without backup. If that happened, he was as good as dead.

Should she call him and tell him to skip town? No, they- the _bad_ _guys_- they had to have his phone tapped by now. Hopefully, DiNozzo would know it was an ambush. No, that wasn't right. Hopefully _Jethro_ knew it was an ambush. Jethro would know exactly what to do. Jenny knew it was childish, but she believed Jethro could fix almost everything. To her, he was the closest thing to a super hero. She sighed as a migraine started pounding inside her head. She thought back to her prediction of the shoot out that would follow.

"Bullets, blood, and an impending cover up. Way to go, Jen. You've worked so hard, you've gotten so far, and where has it got you?" Jenny asked herself, chuckling mirthlessly. "You're all alone in a former subordinate's apartment, waiting to die. The man you love either still thinks your dead, hates you, or is rushing over here into an ambush." She clutched her head. She needed her medication. Dropping the half-assembled gun in her lap, Jenny blindly groped at the nearby table before grasping the small, orange bottle. She popped it open and swallowed two of the small pills dry. Then, she slowly looked down at the bottle.

It wasn't _her_ fault. She was sick, dammit! She suffered from a malignant brain tumor! No matter what she did, she was doomed to die within the next year. Hell, these pills had let her live longer! She should have died _long_ ago. If it weren't for those pills, she'd long be cold in the ground!

However, if it _weren't_ for the pills, she wouldn't be endangering anyone. Deux Grenouille _wouldn't_ need revenge, and Kort _wouldn't_ be desperate to hide who killed the original arms' dealing bastard. DiNozzo _wouldn't_ have blamed himself for her death and _wouldn't_ be about to walk into a slaughter. Ducky _wouldn't_ hate her. As for Jethro...

She could have told him she loved him.

Jenny closed her fist around the almost full bottle of pills. She choked down the tears that threatened to spill, and did the only thing that made sense. She hurled the damn pills as hard as she could against the wall.

--

Ducky, Abby, and Jimmy watched silently as the four field agents put on bullet-proof vests and grabbed their guns while in Autopsy. Silently, Tony, Ziva and McGee glanced around at each other. They all pulled jackets or over shirts on to hide the vests. Finally, Abby couldn't take it.

"Don't go!" She commanded, her voice stricken with fear. "It has to be an ambush! I don't think I could stand it if any of you... If any of you..." Abby blinked away tears. Gibbs stepped up to the Goth and held her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"We will not die, Abby," He assured. "I _promise_."

"B-But that's _not_ something you can promise!" She exclaimed, slightly hysterical. "You don't know if you won't-"

"They aren't _allowed_ to die," Gibbs jerked his thumb behind him at Tony, Ziva and McGee. "I won't let them." Abby tried to stutter out another excuse, but she could think of nothing. Gibbs kissed her on the cheek like a father would kiss his scared daughter. She sniffed and wiped away the tears. Gibbs smirked and walked out of Autopsy. The two other field agents and the liaison officer followed behind him silently, leaving Abby, Ducky and Jimmy standing alone.

"Please... Be _careful_..." Abby said quietly, knowing they couldn't hear her. Ducky walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder.

"They'll be okay, Abigail," He said reassuringly. Abby threw her arms around the good doctor, forcing him into a hug.

"Ducky...!" She sobbed, not quite sure what to say. Jimmy walked up to the two and stared at the door gravely.

"They'll be okay, Abby," Jimmy repeated Ducky's words. "Gibbs and Ziva are trained to survive anything; McGee can take care of himself-"

"And Tony?" Abby cut Jimmy off, fearing for her big-brother figure. Jimmy looked away sheepishly.

"Tony's indestructible," He said, voicing his own childish thought about his friend. What other explanation could there be for a man who survived everything from genetically altered plague to car bombs? Abby rubbed her eyes, looking at the door.

"They better come back..." She said aloud, not sure if it was directed at Ducky, Jimmy, or herself.

--

The moment Jenny's rescue team got into the parking lot, Gibbs turned to Tony, glaring.

"_Well_?" He barked. "You have a plan, DiNozzo?" He demanded. Tony was taken aback.

"Wha-?"

"_You_ hid her, _you_ lied to me," Gibbs started coldly, his voice slowly gaining volume. "_You_ think of a plan!" He reached behind Tony's head and slapped him. Tony grimaced, rubbing the back of his head. Damn that was harder than usual. He was about to make a joke about not being able to think when his head was throbbing, but his better judgment kicked in at that moment.

"Give me a moment..." He said, walking over to his car, running his hand across the back, then feeling a small bump that shouldn't be there. "What the..." He mumbled under his breath, before examining said bump. "McGee!"

"What, Tony?" McGee asked, not sure he liked where this was going. Tony waved him over. Ziva and Gibbs both also crowded around them as the youngest field agent kneeled next to Tony.

"Is that what I think it is?" Tony asked, gesturing to the small machine stuck to his car.

"Uh, if you mean a tracking device, then yes," McGee nodded. He bit back a short tirade about Tony letting himself get tracked, knowing it wouldn't end well for either of them. Tony looked up at Gibbs, who was standing over them both.

"Hey boss, I got a plan."

--

"Yo, Ted-o," One of the Deux Grenouille goons called out. He was sitting on Ted's sofa, laptop on his lap. Kort, arm still in a sling, rolled his eyes. What type of self-respecting criminal would let himself be called 'Ted-o,' he couldn't help but wonder. It was ridiculous. "DiNozzo's on the move!" The goon yelled out. Ted sauntered up behind him and looked at the laptop.

"The _hell_? The bastard's going the wrong way!" Ted exclaimed. "Is he that _fucking_ _stupid_ or is he just a _coward_?" He asked aloud, not directed towards anyone. Kort scoffed.

"DiNozzo may be stupid, but he wouldn't just abandon her," Kort said, pulling the laptop away from the goon. Looking up, he realized that all of them had crowded around him. "Why aren't you keeping watch?" He spat, getting up. "DiNozzo and his friends will be here soon! It's late in the day, and it only takes about an hour to get from NCIS to here in traffic!"

"But it's going the other way-"

"He'll turn around!" Kort sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why am I surrounded by incompetent idiots?" Suddenly, a gunshot fired from outside the hall. Kort, Ted, and the rest of the goons ran out to the hall to see DiNozzo bent over the Israeli woman sitting on the ground, clutching her stomach. The door to DiNozzo's apartment was wide open, and Sheppard ran out, gun in hand and face stricken with fear. Ted and the goons all rushed back into Ted's apartment for their guns, which they foolishly left on the table.

"_Ziva_!" The former redhead yelled. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry!" Kort drew his gun from the holster, smirking. He pointed it at Sheppard, and was about to pull the trigger.

"_Hey_ _asshole_!" A familiar voice yelled behind him. Kort whipped around, only to get punched in the face by a very angry Gibbs. "You have no clue how long I've wanted to do that!" He spat, pointing his gun at Kort.

A door creaked open, several shots went off, and all hell broke loose.

--

_Author's_ _Note_: So begins the long awaited shoot-em-up. Don't worry, if there are any questions, it'll be explained in a chapter or two. This chapter was named for Jenny and Jimmy's perceptions of Gibbs and Tony, respectively. I honestly think someone would call Tony indestructible at some point, mostly because I think he is... Sorta. He just won't die. Or will he...? Haha. You guys are going to hate me by the end of this. Or will you...? Man, I forgot how fun and annoying that was to do at the same time. Haven't done it since Tony accepted Jenny was alive. Oh; Reviews are nice.


	13. Not your fault

_Author's Note_: So sorry this took so long! But this chapter is fairly long, compared to what I usually write. Anyway, this is the second to last chapter. Next up is the epilogue. That'll be up relatively quickly.

**_Warning_**: Cannon and non-cannon character deaths this chapter. Do not just skip to the end.

Also, I do not own NCIS.

--

"Okay, Ducky, start driving," Tony quietly instructed over the cell phone. He and the rest of the team were quietly racing up the stairs of his apartment complex, going up to his floor. After they found the small tracking device planted on Tony's car, they went straight back to Autopsy. His plan was simple. Once they got to his apartment building, Ducky would start driving his car out of NCIS and away from his home. It wouldn't give them much time, but the goons would be preoccupied long enough for the team to sneak in and snatch Jenny out. They'd then come back later with reinforcements under the cover of 'homegrown terrorist group.' In case they were also tracking his phone, Tony also left his with Ducky and _'borrowed'_ Agent Jardine's phone. Technically, it was borrowed. She let them have it after Tony threatened to _lick_ every single thing on her desk if she didn't give them the damn phone... Anyway, if the bad guys could bug Tony so easily, they might be able to bug the whole team, plus Ducky and Abby. However, they would never expect them to use a random agent's phone to communicate.

After this was all over and if he wasn't dead, he would buy Agent Jardine _all_ the wet-wipes and hand sanitizers in the local D.C. area, Tony decided.

"Good luck, Anthony," Ducky said quietly into Tony's phone, pausing. The young agent could faintly hear his car being brought to life in the background. "Good luck, all of you." With that, the other end of the phone went silent. Tony looked at his teammates. The grave looks on all of their faces killed him inside. This was all _his_ fault, after all. If _he_ did a better job protecting Jenny in L.A., she wouldn't have faked her death, or at least they would have known she did earlier. Then they'd have a plan for what would happen if she needed help. He should have told Gibbs immediately after she came to him. He should have taken her with him when he stormed out earlier. He should have-

But he _didn't_, and what he _didn't_ do didn't matter at the moment.

What mattered was what he was doing _now_. What mattered was he was trying to fix it.

Tony tapped Ziva on the shoulder, before quietly pushing the door connecting his hallway to the stairwell open. The two of them went out before McGee and Gibbs, who walked half way to Tony's apartment, guns drawn, ready to fight. Ziva scrunched up her nose when the strong smell of gasoline reached it, and noted the drenched floors. Their opponents intended to set the building on fire. When they reached Tony's apartment, she kneeled down and picked his lock, and started getting up when Tony pushed the door open. It wasn't even open all the way when Jenny shot Ziva, believing they were one of the goons. Ziva fell backwards from the shot, which hit her square in the stomach while she was getting up. She clutched her stomach in pain, grateful for her bullet-proof vest. Even if it stopped the bullet from killing her, she _still_ was just shot at point-blank range. Tony helped her sit up, worry etched into his face. Gibbs and McGee both started running towards them, not sure where their adversaries were. Most likely to them, seeing as Ziva was just _shot_, already in Tony's apartment. They stopped short when a large group of men emerged from one of the apartments, the one diagonal from Tony's.

Realizing that it was Tony and Ziva at the door, Jenny jumped out the chair in front of the door she was sitting in. She just shot _Ziva_. Her friend, who _saved_ _her_ _life_ many times. Jenny didn't know she had a vest on, and rushed out of the door, still holding the gun that shot Ziva. The group of men started scurrying back into the apartment, someone saying something about 'Where's my gun, Ted?!'

"_Ziva_!" Jenny yelled, staring at the Israeli woman. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, not sure what else she could say. It was then Kort had her in his crosshairs, a moment away from dying, when Gibbs blood boiled. _No_, this man wouldn't kill Jenny. Not without a fight, anyway.

"_Hey_ _asshole_!" Gibbs yelled, decking Kort in the face as hard as he could. It satisfied him when he saw blood fall freely from the C.I.A. bastard's newly broken nose. "You have no clue how long I've wanted to do that!" He spat, drawing his gun at Kort's forehead. The latter's gun was pointed away from everyone towards the door across from Ted's, he'd never be able to get off a round before Gibbs would kill him...

Caplin's door creaked open, and the hung over blond trudged out to investigate all the ruckus. She tried to survey the scene, but she could not see past the gun Kort pointed at her face. If she could look past that, she would see Gibbs pointing his gun at Kort, Jenny and Tony pulling Ziva off the ground, McGee training his gun on Ted's apartment for the rest of the goons still in there, and the empty gasoline cans tossed carelessly in the corner.

"_Dun_ _shoot_," She pleaded, speech slurred. Kort smirked mercilessly, turning his attention to Gibbs.

"_Well_, Agent Gibbs, this little civilian doesn't want to die. I suggest you put your gun away so I don't have to shoot her," He bargained, putting his finger back on the trigger.

"Or I could just kill you," Gibbs said dryly. Dammit, how the hell did a civilian get into this? His wondering was cut short when the goons in Ted's apartment ran out, randomly firing their weapons and spewing out random yelling.

A bullet grazed McGee's left shoulder before he shot one of the big men in the chest. The man howled and fell to the ground, covering the wall and floor with blood as McGee shot one of the other men in the arm, not causing fatal damage. Ziva, with her Mossad training, shot three of the seven men to rush out of the room, all of them headshots. Each died instantly and sprayed some blood onto the walls and on each other as they went down. Tony jumped in front of Jenny to protect her from the blaze of bullets, receiving a bullet to his own shin. He howled and fell to the ground, but double-tapped one of the bad guys, killing him instantly. Jenny also got off a couple rounds, injuring several of their assailants. Jenny and Ziva struggled to get Tony up as Gibbs and McGee took on the last three bad guys, Ted and Kort included. Ted laugh maniacally while aiming at McGee, who was busy with the other thug, only to get shot in the back of the head by a _very_ angry Gibbs. Kort and Gibbs' eyes locked for a moment before the C.I.A. agent sneered and started making his way towards Jenny while firing at Gibbs, hitting him in the vest. Gibbs winced, but didn't let the pain stop him as he shot back at Kort, who was slowly backing up towards Ziva, Tony, and Jenny, all of whom were busy trying to stop Tony from bleeding. Meanwhile, McGee and the man he shot in the arm were both shooting at each other, but both missed because they couldn't shoot properly because of their injuries. The man accidentally shot Caplin in the stomach while aiming at McGee. Caplin screamed, staggered and fell to the ground, and slowly bled to death. Finally, McGee managed to shoot the bastard in a vital organ, killing him.

That just left Kort.

As Ziva got a handle of applying pressure to Tony's leg, Jenny looked up to see the scene. Seven men dead, Tony's bitchy civilian neighbor was wasting her final breaths crying as she bled out, McGee was clutching his bloodied shoulder as Ziva was yelling at Tony while trying to stop his bleeding, and Jethro and Kort were at a stand-off. _All_ the blood, she realized, was because of her killing La Grenouille, faking her death, and demanding Tony hide her. Jenny clutched her gun and got up. There was no way in _hell_ Kort would kill Jethro. Not _her_ Jethro. Not because of _her_.

Gibbs was out of bullets, and Kort knew it. He grinned a shit-eating grin, and decided to taunt him.

"Now, now, Agent Gibbs, look at what we have here. You're out of bullets, several of your agents are bleeding to death and a civilian is dead." Kort started to squeeze the trigger on his gun, but not enough to discharge a round. "Any last words?"

"_Hey_ _asshole_!" Jenny spat, shooting Kort twice in the mid-section. However, Kort had begun to whip around when she shot him, and he was able to get a round off at her. Both Jenny and Kort collapsed.

"_Jenny_!" Gibbs yelled, rushing to her side. He held her in his arms as he looked at the slowly growing blood stain in the middle of her chest. He didn't care that she was bleeding all over him as she looked up at him, smiling weakly.

"Jethro...?" She asked, her eyes slowly loosing life. There was still some in them, though. "Jethro, I have something to tell you..."

"It can wait, Jen. You're going to be fine. You're going to be-"

"Stop _lying_." She commanded, despite her voice slowly loosing volume. She weakly motioned for him to put his ear near her mouth, and she whispered her message to him. Gibbs pulled back, looking her in the eye and nodding silently. Hanging on by a thread, she smiled again and whispered '_I love you_,' before her eyes went blank. Gibbs looked at the dead woman in his arms, still very warm. No, _dammit_, no! He checked her pulse. Nothing. Gibbs looked up, blinking away tears and saw Ziva, Tony, and McGee standing over them. Ziva and McGee had to support Tony because of his leg. The former two of the three were both sad, but Tony was devastated. He opened his mouth to speak, a lump forming in his throat.

"I..." He choked out. "I..." Tony didn't know what to say. He didn't say anything, however, as everyone's attention was drawn to a loud, sickening cough. Kort was on his side, still bleeding heavily out of two holes in his stomach, holding a lit cigarette lighter.

"Fair... Well... NCIS..." He said with his last breaths, dropping the lit cigarette lighter onto the gasoline-soaked floor. Soon, the small flame spread all across the floor.

"Gibbs! We have to leave, now!" Ziva exclaimed to the man still holding Jenny's body as she, Tony, and McGee made their way to the staircase. Gibbs looked into Jenny's face one last time, a single tear falling.

"I love you too, Jen," He whispered to the body, before laying her down on the burning floor. The four bloodied agents escaped the burning building as the fire spread to the rest of it.

--

"When can we get out of the hospital?" McGee complained to Gibbs. The two young field agents were both hospitalized for their bullet-wounds, and were now lying in their respective beds. Gibbs, sitting in a chair between them as Ziva went to get coffee, sighed.

"Dunno. The doctors want you both to stay the night," He said, looking at McGee.

"I'm surprised you aren't the one complaining, Tony," McGee commented. Tony just shrugged as he watched his apartment building go up in flames on the television. "You hate hospitals." McGee waited for Tony to make some smart-ass remark, but he stayed silent and continued to watch the _'Breaking_ _News'_ about the fire.

"McGee, go for a walk," Gibbs instructed the youngest man in the room.

"But I was just _shot_-"

"In the _shoulder_, McGee. You can still walk," Gibbs glared. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tony flinch. Maybe that was a poor choice of words on his part around someone who would be confined to crutches for the next couple months... McGee grumbled a little as he jumped out of his hospital bed, grabbed his I.V. hanger, and left the room. Gibbs turned to Tony, who didn't look at him.

"I screwed up, boss," He eventually said, his voice distant. "This whole thing is _my_ fault. I could have-"

"It's _not_ your fault." Gibbs cut off his senior field agent. Finally, Tony tore his eyes off the screen where his home was burning and looked Gibbs square in the eye.

"I could have done _so_ _much_ different, so _nobody_ would have died! _If_ I did a better job in L.A., this wouldn't have happened at all! _If_ I told you immediately, several hundred people, including _myself_, wouldn't be watching their home burn down, there _wouldn't_ be eight assholes dead in my hallway, a civilian death _would_ have been avoided, and _what_ was that last one? Oh, yeah- Jenny would be _ALIVE_!" Tony all but screamed. "I could have done something-ANYTHING- different, and it _probably_ would have been better! Now, _because_ _of_ _me_, whole families are watching _THAT_ happen," Tony pointed to the news, still showing the burning apartment complex, "-And two innocent women are dead! I mean sure, Caplin was a total bitch and was quite possibly the neighbor from hell, but she didn't deserve to die, dammit! This is the second time Jenny died because of me! I could have..." Tony trailed off, panting to catch his breath from all the yelling. He averted his eyes away from Gibbs. "If you need to fire me, just do it now."

"Tony, I'm not going to fire you," Gibbs sighed. Convincing Tony this wasn't his fault was going to be hell. "_Yeah_, you screwed up by not telling me, but you could never have stopped any of that from happening. This is _not_ your fault." He waited for Tony to say something else, but when he didn't Gibbs continued. "You couldn't have stopped Jenny from faking her death- She is- Was- _Always_ too stubborn to _not_ to get her way," He smiled absent-mindedly, remembering several fights they had in the past where neither would back down, and occasionally resorted to petty name-calling early on when they were together. "As for the fire, how could you control those assholes drenching the floor in gasoline and setting a match? The civilian- She stayed in her apartment after the thugs 'evacuated' the building, when you weren't there. That's not your fault, either." Tony just stared at the ground.

"It's _still_ my fault Kort-" He started, before Gibbs cut him off.

"She told me not to let you blame yourself," He said sternly. "Right before she died. '_Don't let Tony blame himself again. It's not his fault._' That's what she said," Gibbs winced at the memory of right before Jenny died. Tony looked up at Gibbs, catching the agony in his eyes. "Anthony, _please_ don't make me break my promise to her," He said, stunning Tony. Not only did Gibbs call him by his actual name- Which only happens when they're having a true father-son moment- but he said _please_. _Gibbs_ said _please_. Tony was sure the doctors didn't give him any pain killers, so this had to be real.

"Yeah. Sure, Boss," Tony said still dazed by the 'please.' "I won't make you a liar."

--

_Author's_ _Note_: I've been watching too much _Bones_ lately. For some reason, they always play this one episode of it on TNT- Anyways, it's one of the old ones, with a dead kid found in a mall parking lot and Brennan promises a foster kid he'll be able to stay with his foster mother and his brother. Near the end, Brennan and Booth are talking about him coming through and getting the kid back to his family, making sure she wasn't a liar. Good show. Yeah, that's sort of the inspiration for the last bit.

Anywho, the scene where Jenny died was sort of sappy to write, but I hope I did a good job. I could never see an outcome for this story where she and the team got out unscathed without making myself feel like a cop-out. Oh, I'm pretty sure Ziva and Gibbs would still feel pain even though the got shot where their vests were. In the episode _Twilight_, right after Kate jumped in front of the bullet for Gibbs, she complained about it hurting.

The results for the poll "Who should die in _'The_ _Conspiracy'_ are in! Out of ten voters with up to three choices, Kort got 7, Ted got 6, nobody got 4, Caplin got 3, Ziva got 2, and McGee got 1. Everyone else had zero. Now I feel bad Jenny died. She didn't get a single vote. Oh, well. Anyways, I would love to read what you all think about this so far!


	14. Epilogue: Goodbye, Jen

_Author's Note_: Oh my, I am **SO** **SORRY** that this took forever! It's a long, personal story that I don't have the energy to explain at the moment. I shouldn't have taken this long to write this, though. Sorry! This is the last chapter, by the way. I plan on writing more NCIS stories, but I might have to go back to one-shots for a while.

I do not own NCIS.

--

Gibbs stood behind the two-way mirror, looking into the interrogation room. He was not alone. To his right was Vance, chewing on a toothpick. Both men glared into the room on the other side of the pane of glass. Sitting in the chair where many murderers had been interrogated sat a sickly man, thin and frail from his cancer. He couldn't be more than twenty-five years old, and yet he was the man appointed head of La Grenouille's cartel after Rene Benoit was killed. He had a smug smirk full of arrogance, despite looking like death itself. He was Deux Grenouille. He was the man who ordered a battalion on thugs to murder Jenny, Tony, and anyone else involved.

"Where the hell is DiNozzo?" Vance demanded. "He was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago!"

"Give him a break, Leon, you couldn't move that fast when you were on crutches," Gibbs countered.

"Give him a break? Do you know how many protocol rules he broke within the last few days? I had to start a cover-up about some bogus mob-hit put out on him! He should be out on his ass!" Vance steamed. Inwardly, Gibbs smirked. There was no way Vance could fire anyone on his team. Not with what Gibbs had on him.

The door to the interrogation room opened, and Tony hobbled in on his crutches. He winced as he accidentally hit his bad leg against the table. Taking one look at the man sitting across from him, his blood boiled.

"You're the guy who was at the Doc's office," Deux Grenouille stated, still smirking while pointing to Tony. Tony just glared at him. He remembered back to when he got Jenny's prescription- Deux Grenouille was the man the Matrix-looking guy was talking to. The same Matrix-looking guy who was now down in Ducky's morgue, burnt to a crisp, like Ted, Kort, Caplin... Jenny. Tony blinked, then stared at the man. "You gonna say something, _prick_?" Deux Grenouille asked disrespectfully, crossing his arms on his chest. Tony opened the file he held and looked through the photos, not letting the younger man see them. "Hey, _bastard_, say something! I've got a three o'clock business meeting with some business associates, and they'll be really _pissed_ off if I'm late." He crossed his arms over his chest, rolling his eyes when Tony didn't say anything. "Yaknow, you have no reason to keep me here."

"You're an arms' dealer. You replaced your uncle, Rene Benoit- AKA La Grenouille- AKA The Frog- After he was killed." Tony said, trying hard to keep his voice even as he pretended to shuffle through the papers without directly looking at Deux Grenouille. The criminal smirked.

"_Ay_, so you heard a' me! Good! Then you know Kort, the slimy bastard, he'll have me out of here _twenty_ _minutes_ after you charge me with something!" Deux Grenouille leaned back in his chair, smirking arrogantly.

"Nope, I'm afraid Kort won't be able to save your sorry ass this time," Tony said blankly, holding one large picture in his hand, the back of it to the other man.

"Well why the fuck not?" Deux Grenouille asked, sitting up in his seat. Tony laid down the single picture on the table. It was a body- or what was left of one. It had little to no skin left from the fire, and the remaining bones were charred to a crisp. Deux Grenouille looked down at the picture in horror. "Holy _shit_, is that _Kort_?"

"Yeah, he's not feeling too well at the moment," Tony snarled sarcastically, before laying down another picture or a charred body. "You're friend Ted can't do anything, _either_!" He slapped down a photo of each goon Deux Grenouille sent after Jenny, each corpse blackened and burned. "_None_ of your friends can do anything for you _anymore_!" Tony yelled, slamming his fist onto the table. Deux Grenouille stared at the pictures, wide-eyed and trembling.

"The little degenerate is scared," Vance commented to Gibbs, both still watching from the observation room.

"He was a low-level gunman in an international cartel before he got bumped up to be Big Cheese. He never even considered the consequences for his violence." Gibbs said quietly.

"Just a stupid kid who was handed a gun and told to not miss. Probably the story of his _life_," Vance grinded the toothpick between his teeth, looking at the frail young man sitting in front of DiNozzo. "His cancer probably didn't do much for his future-planning. Who thinks six months ahead when they only have five left?"

"I-They... They're _dead_..." Deux Grenouille said, staring at the pictures.

"_Really_?" Tony seethed, starting to lose his cool. "I thought they were just sleeping! Oh, wait- When you get _shot_ in _vital_ organs and _set_ _on_ _fire_, you don't really get _better_, do you?" Tony laughed bitterly, before slamming two more pictures down on the table. These two were different. One was of his late blond neighbor, laughing and flashing the peace sign at the camera. McGee got it off her Facebook. The other was Jenny, sitting at the director's desk- Her desk- trying to hide her laughter by covering her mouth. It didn't work, however, because her eyes were bright and happy. Abby took that picture years ago, long before she even considered she was sick. Deux Grenouille looked at the two dead women.

"Who're they?" He asked, looking up at Tony. Tony scowled.

"You _don't_ know Jenny?" He asked, pointing his finger at the picture of Jenny. "You should, seeing that you sent _all_ your friends to go _kill_ her!" He stacked each picture of the burned men and held them, each hand clutching a different corner. "You sent hit men after her a few days ago to kill her and score you some meds. They didn't do so well, so you sent your other friends after her. But, you see, she had friends, too." He forced a laugh, tearing the stack of photos right down the middle then throwing the remains behind him. "So, _your_ friends against _her_ friends- _My_ friends, really- Your guys didn't stand a chance. But Kort did get the chance to put a few in her before he went down." Tony picked up Jenny's picture and tore it down the middle, too. "That leaves the last of your victims. A _civilian_ in the wrong place at the wrong time caught in the crossfire." Tony picked up the final photo, Caplin's picture. "She took a few to the gut, and bled out slowly. Our M.E. said the fire is what really got her." Tony ripped Caplin's picture in half, and tossed it behind her like the rest, then leaned forward towards Deux Grenouille. "All these lives lost, just to kill a woman who had half a year left," He said flatly. "Why?!" He demanded. Deux Grenouille glared at Tony, trying to regain his cocky attitude. Tony saw right through the younger man's act- Tony himself was a master at faking arrogance.

"She killed Uncle Renny. When you mess with the family, the family messes with you," Deux Grenouille said lowly, his voice trembling slightly and giving away his fear.

"Funny. You sound like an Italian Mob Boss, not a French Arm's Dealer," Tony commented, leaning back in his chair, then forced more laughter. "You really shouldn't tell an Italian about messing with family, Frog Two-point-O, you just shouldn't." He leaned forward, sending daggers at Deux Grenouille. "And you sure as hell shouldn't mess with a Federal Agent's family. Jenny was family- To everyone here at NCIS- And we don't take kindly to little C.I.A. lapdog punks who kill our family." Tony stood up, grasping his clutches, moving to leave. "You're going away to a federal prison for the rest of your life." He said coldly, hobbling over to the door.

"Wait- You can't prove a _thing_!" Deux Grenouille cried. Tony turned to face him. "Anyone involved in this so-called hit is dead and can't testify, I ain't admitting to nothing, and you don't got no physical evidence or testifiers for the Arm's Dealing!" He grinned, letting out a sigh of relief.

"We don't have anything on you for killing Jenny and trying to kill me or the Arms' Dealing, but you, my friend, have evaded taxes. And we found some unregistered weapons. Don't forget the drugs now!" Tony spat. "Your sentence is eight years all together." Deux Grenouille was horrified.

"But you said the rest of-"

"You have five months to live. Six at best." Tony said coldly, without an ounce of sympathy for the young man. "Your cancer isn't responding to the medication you're on- I guess your handler forgot to tell you that it was fake. The clinical trial you were on had 50% of the patients on the meds, the other 50% on placebos. You were on the placebos. Jenny wasn't. That's why Kort wanted your goons to grab her pills." Tony turned to the door, leaving the stunned dying man in silence. From behind the two-way mirror, Gibbs saw Deux Grenouille run his hands over his face, looking utterly defeated. Without a word, Gibbs left the observation room and met up with Tony in the hall.

"You ready, DiNozzo?" He asked, eyeing over his subordinate's black suit as they walked to the elevator.

"Ready as I'll ever be for this, Boss," Tony said, sighing. "This'll be worse than the first one, won't it?" He asked, looking to Gibbs for an answer. Gibbs just looked ahead of them at the closed elevator door, noticing a small dent in it. "Thought so," Tony said in response to Gibbs' silence.

--

The team- That is, Gibbs, Tony, McGee, Ziva, Abby, Ducky and Palmer- stood silently on the green cemetery lawn, listening as the preacher gave a speech about life and death over the casket. Joining them for Jenny's funeral was only the doctor. Each of them placed a flower on her casket, the doctor going first and Gibbs going last. He let his hand linger on the wood, glad he couldn't see what she looked like. She had to have been burned. Burned bad. He inhaled sharply, refusing to let his tears out. He walked over to the rest of the mourners.

"She was a good woman," The doctor told Tony, trying to strike up a conversation. He didn't look at her. He couldn't take his eyes off the coffin.

"Yeah, she was."

"She didn't deserve it."

"I know," Tony bit down on his lip.

"What happened, anyway? Her disease couldn't have progressed far enough to kill her this soon," The doctor asked. Briefly, Tony considered telling the truth. The whole truth. However, he had to go with the cover-up. He had to be Tony DiNardo one last time.

"There was a mob hit out on me. I must have really pissed off one of my students or something. Anyway, a bunch of mobsters went to my apartment and shot the whole place up while I was out. Aunt Jenny was there..." His voice trailed off as a lump grew in his throat. Abby, who stood next to him, pulled Tony into a hug, her tears falling freely. When they parted, Abby looked down into the small tape recorder she held and turned it on. Jazz music played, and they started to leave. Gibbs stopped at the edge of the cemetery and looked back at the coffin next to the open grave.

Suddenly, a wave of memories came back to him. For a minute, he relived when Shannon and Kelly died, all the pain he was in after them, and how it subsided a bit when he met Jennifer Sheppard. Paris flittered through his head briefly, before he saw her leave him because he 'didn't fit into her plan.' Next was when he first found out she was the new director, and when they went after Ari. Every argument, every conversation, every moment with her replayed in his head. Then Ducky telling him she was sick... Finding out she killed La Grenouille and almost let Tony take the blame... Her first funeral... Abby telling him Tony saw her... Tony telling him she really _was_ alive... Then finally, her cold, blank eyes as they said goodbye one last time. It took Gibbs all he had to not break down crying where he stood. He looked back to the living, and saw them all standing silently, minus the Jazz music, waiting for him.

"Goodbye, Jen," Gibbs whispered towards the grave, and then walked away with the rest of his family.

--

_Author's Note_: Not completely happy with this last chapter. Again, I'm sorry this took so long, and I'm sorry that I killed Jenny. Also, I imagine Deux Grenouille with a Brooklyn accent. Just because. Please, like or dislike, review and tell me what you thought of my first finished multi-chapter story.


End file.
